A Certain Land of Illusions
by Dragonmaster870
Summary: Kamijou Touma has been whisked away to an unfamiliar land, apart from Index, Misaka, and Othinus. He tries to get a grasp and live his life there, but his misfortune will never let his peace last for long. However, in living this world and getting to know more about it, he begins to learn more about the cruelty of illusionary life.
1. Welcome to Gensoukyou I

**A/N: And so, we have two out of my three favorite Japanese franchises coming together in a Toaru Majutsu no Index/Touhou Project fanfiction. I wonder if I can do Kamachi Kazuma and ZUN's work justice…**

 **Well, let's go on and establish the fact that _I don't own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor Touhou Project. This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only and ownership of the original franchises goes to Kamachi Kazuma, ZUN, and their respective affiliates._**

 **Without further ado; let's jump right in.**

 **Chapter 1: Welcome to Gensoukyou**

* * *

Kamijou Touma awoke to pain in his head.

"OW! THE PAIN! IT HURTS!"

He reaches up to touch his head, maybe caress it to try and alleviate the pain and he hits something hard with his hand. Yes, other than his unnaturally hard noggin.

"A…bedframe?"

He opens his eyes to see faint light and coming from the sides of the bed, dampened by the bed skirt. He can make out a faint cross-shaped shadow of a window's muntin bars through the fabric.

The bed he's under seems to be made out of wood, giving him a kind of homey-type feel he thinks wouldn't be too out of place in a nursery rhyme or fairy tale.

He pulls up the fabric slightly and shifts his body to look out under it, and sees no sign of life on that side. He does the same on his left side and this time he sees the bottom of a dresser and a wooden door in that direction.

 _Why does this Kamijou-san feel like a wave of misfortune is going to be coming my way soon_ , he wonders as he shudders slightly. Something is wrong; that much is definitely obvious. Whether it's one of his friend Tsuchimikado's shenanigans in shipping him off to a place without warning like during the British Civil War and the School Garden infiltration during the Agitate Halation incident: he doesn't know.

He immediately tenses up and focuses on his hearing, since everything is still in his vision.

Fortunately for his well-being, there's no sound but what sounds like the rustling of leaves in the trees outside. Unfortunately, however, that does nothing but tell him he's in a forest and, by extension, not in Academy City, since there are no forests there. Not to mention any houses like this.

If he goes along with the assumption that Tsuchimikado sent him here, there must be something big going on in this place.

He waits a few more moments, waiting for something to catch his attention as he feels through his pockets and takes note of his person. He's in his winter uniform, and in his pockets are his phone, his wallet, a pen, and a pack of gum. He's uncertain of how much gum is inside, but he figures it's not really important at the moment.

Finally, his wait is over. After not hearing anything for the whole period of time, he deems it safe to leave.

He shimmies his way out from under the bed and stands up in what he can tell is a western-style home. He takes a step and decides to take a few moments to look for an object that will help him gain his bearings like a newspaper, map, or something similar, but instead decides to use his phone instead of disturbing this unknown person's belongings. For all he knows this is a magician's house, and they have a smorgasbord of booby traps in place for him.

He takes a step forward and…

"Gah!"

He feels a dull pain in the side of his head as he finds himself with his vantage point back on the level of a mouse.

He looks down where his foot was a second ago and sees a glass eye rolling away. A really hard glass eye, from what he can tell.

"What was that even doing there…" He trails off as he gets a look into the world beyond the doorway to the bedroom.

 _I stumbled into a bibliophilic hoarder's wet dream!_

In the room is by far the messiest collection of assorted items he's ever seen. Piles among piles of old books are scattered near the walls, old papers are every which way, and all kinds of knick-knacks and goodies are scattered around in what he could imagine a LEGO minefield would look like if it was used in the American film series Home Alone.

Luckily, he has shoes on, so the trauma he would get by stepping on the materials barefoot would not be occurring, but at the same time this can be a huge problem. If this is a magician living in this house, he would booby trap his place to dispatch intruders. It could lie anywhere in this sea of odds and ends.

He picks himself up, opting to err on the side of caution and calculate the safest route out of the house, and then embarks upon it. He manages to make it to the door with no problems.

 _Wow, I actually made it. Is my luck finally turning around?_

He opens the front door with his right hand, using the ability called the Imagine Breaker to negate any possible supernatural phenomenon placed on the door. In this case, it would be a spell of some sort. He notices nothing happens, something that doesn't make him let down his guard in the slightest. There's a possibility that this magician realizes that the doorknob is an obvious location to put an anti-intruder charm or something similar, so he used the doorknob as a decoy to disguise the real trap.

The boy named Kamijou Touma steps to the side of the doorway and turns the knob, pulling it open and waiting there for a couple of moments before he confirms there's no secondary trap.

 _So is this really just the house of an obsessive collector then?_

He steps outside, closing the door behind him and begins to address the problem of where he is. As he steps out onto the aged stone walkway, he takes note of the vegetation and the unusual abundance of mushrooms in the area. He doubts he'll get a signal on his phone here, but it's worth a try.

Pulling out his phone, he looks up at the top of the interface as he starts walking and sees no bars. Absolutely none.

"I must really be out in the middle of nowhere, huh?" He speaks to no one in particular and pockets the device, beginning his walk down the path and in the direction of what looks to be a beaten path.

He shudders again.

His body is telling him it would be in his best interests if he ducked, right now.

He throws himself to the ground and hears something whizz past him and thunk into the ground.

Looking up, he sees a small flame on the ground in front of him, a few feet away from his hair.

Looks like his Precognition saved his life again.

This 'Precognition' is basically an instinct his body developed from being banged around to near-death by espers and magicians alike time and time again. His body can tell most of the time when something supernatural is about to occur, and he can react accordingly. Assuming the attack doesn't move faster than he can react.

He pushes himself up and takes a couple of rushed steps forward, then turns around to face his attacker.

In front of him is a fairly short girl with yellow eyes and blonde hair with a braid on her left side with a purple ribbon. For whatever reason, the girl is cosplaying as a witch, what with her witch hat and broom. She's wearing a black and white costume and black boots as well.

No, wait. Let him correct something about that description. 'Cosplaying' is not the right word. If he's learned anything from his companions in his magician-fighting expeditions, it's that magicians will take on qualities of source of the magic they're based on.

"So you're the magician." He clenches his fist, and the girl looks at him hostilely. He from the way she carries herself with that broom over her shoulder, he can tell this is not some polite girly-girl he can reason with, either. He wonders what the goal of someone looking around his age to use magic is.

"I'm not the only one, ze. But I'm one of the best, though." She brings her broom down off of her shoulder. "Anyway, what were you doing in my house, ze?"

 _I sense the misfortune already…I can tell this isn't going to end well for this Kamijou-san…_

"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I just woke up in there. I have no clue how I got into your house."

She scoffs. "Yeah, right."

"No, honestly! I don't!"

"Sorry, but I don't believe you, ze. You're going to have to prove your innocence to me, boy."

He feels the urge to cry. He can do this in this relaxed fashion because he can't sense any true desire to harm him; only for him to confess to something he didn't do.

"H-hey, Witch-san, are you sure we can't talk this one out?"

She doesn't respond, instead pulling out what looks like a miniature version of a hakkero.

Huh?

"Master Spark!"

The hakkero starts to glow, and Kamijou starts to worry. His body is again warning him to move out of the way, but before he's able to move a massive laser is fired out of it.

"Holy—"

He barely has time to raise his right hand, the one with the power to negate, to block it, and even then he grunts from the impact and strange position of his hand.

"Gh…"

It feels like he tried to stop a bus with his hand, and there's no way he can alleviate the pressure, as not only is the attack powerful enough that he can't fully negate it (maybe it's made of Telesma, the source of power for angels), but it's too big to try and deflect away from him, as that's the thing he usually does with non-negatable attacks. He'll have to settle for bearing the ever-growing pain and parting the massive beam like the Red Sea.

 _Dammit, is this amount of power really necessary?_

He feels something warm hit his face as the palm of his hand starts to go numb: blood.

I need to move and counterattack…or better yet, escape and form a plan.

He begins strafing right, keeping his hand forward and making the break in the laser move with him.

Finally, he reaches the edge, but before he breaks away the laser stops.

His assailant is looking at the position he was with a mix of satisfaction and mild shock, but when he puts his hand down her eyes catch the movement and fall upon him. The rage and shock on her face are something both hilarious and terrifying.

"Hey, how did you do that? If I saw right, you parted my beam down the middle, ze! A normal human shouldn't be able to do that!"

He sees her brandish the hakkero again, and the spiky-haired teen opts to make a break for it.

He clenches his fist despite the massive pain and braces himself to do something anyone would classify as reckless.

The witch steps back in shock as he dashes forward, prompting her to mount her broom with surprising speed and make her own pass.

He jumps out of the way as the girl charges directly at him, and he plants his feet and twists, switching directions to go back the way he came. His plan was to get her in front of him as he left so he could anticipate any attacks as he uses the beaten path to escape. There is the fact that she undoubtedly knows her way around while he doesn't, so he's out of luck if she drives him off of the path. Not to mention he has no ranged attacks, so their difference in vantage points is another disadvantage to deal with.

And with these points in mind, he goes through with his escape plan.

He lets out a yell as he charges, confusing the girl even more before she decides to shoot first and question him later. Or never, what with how much firepower she used in that first attack.

"I don't know if you have a deathwish, but I'll happily grant it for you, ze!"

And then the torrent came.

A hail of stars (?) comes raining down on him as he runs off of the walkway and onto the path. He's able to dodge and dispel the hail by zigzagging and holding up his right hand.

"Why? Why do I have to be attacked?!"

Kamijou screams his complaints as he runs down the path, wondering why every encounter he has has to involve him fending off attempts at his life.

Eventually he overtakes the magician girl, likely because she is focused on firing the magic rather than staying ahead of him. And that is something he can take advantage of.

He looks back and manages to make out her figure through the hell of magic being flung his way. He had a bit of trouble seeing her, so the opposite is true as well; she can't see him very well either. Something he can capitalize on.

He plants his foot and twists to the right, then jumps into the brush on the side of the path, and the wave of destruction advances without noticing its lack of a target.

He lets out a sigh of relief and then a gasp of pain as he bumps his injured hand into a branch.

 _Okay, so I escaped the magician. But I need information if I'm going to be able to find out what to do here. I have no reception on my phone, so I have no choice but to rely on some more hospitable people to get my bearings._

He picks himself up and looks out of the brush he chose to throw himself into. In the direction opposite of the path, there's an almost direct, unobstructed path to a place that's equally unknown but at least not a forest. It almost looks like an old-fashioned shop or something similar.

As far-fetched as it sounds…could I have been sent back in time? Or did the magician use something with principles of the Croce of Pietro to turn back time in a certain part of the world? Can you even repurpose an artifact like that?

He may be grasping at straws by this point, but he's seen things in his lifetime that would make things like that not seem so impossible.

Picking himself up out of the bushes and pulling leaves, twigs and a mushroom out of his hair, he embarks briskly out of the forest and towards that shop.

According to the sign above the door, the shop is called 'Kourindou'.

Using his left hand this time, he opens the door and steps inside the building.

Inside is something that reminds him of the house he woke up in: scattered odds and ends, in shop format. Except these 'odds and ends' are much more modern things, like heaters, fans, laptop computers, game systems, televisions, even air purifiers. If there are the this many high-tech products for sale here in this archaic place, maybe it was just that forest without connection. As such, he pulls out his phone and checks for at least a Wi-Fi signal, but gets nothing of the sort.

At the counter is a man with short silver hair and bespectacled golden eyes, dressed in a black-and-blue themed outfit and fixated on some ancient-looking book.

He sighs. "You again, Marisa? You were just here." Kamijou doesn't respond.

 _Who's Marisa?_ "Or maybe you're Reimu? Izayoi-san, even?"

Again, Kamijou doesn't respond from sheer confusion, and the man looks up. "Ah. You're not any of them. And you don't look like you're from here." He puts a bookmark in the book and closes it. "How may I help you?"

"Um, sorry for this, but I'm not here to shop. I actually would like some information, if you don't mind."

Uncharacteristically for a store owner, there's not the slightest shed of disappointment or exasperation in his expression. "Information, huh? What would you like to know?"

 _Let's start with where I am._ "To start, where is this place? Where are we?"

"I'll assume you're asking about this land in general." Kamijou nods. "Well then, outsider: welcome to Gensoukyou, the Land of Illusions."

"Gensoukyou? Land of Illusions?"

The owner nods. "Yes. A world of where everything humans from the Outside World feared and believed to be superstition exist alongside each other."

"'Everything humans used to fear and believed to be superstition'… Youkai, then? Things we discarded as legends and myths?"

"That's right. Youkai are the dominant race here, but there are still a number of humans here as well, so you aren't alone."

 _'You', he says. Does that mean he's a youkai, then?_

The man seems to read his mind. "Calm down. Only pure youkai eat humans. I'm a half-youkai, so I don't count."

"Youkai eat humans?! All of them?!"

"Yeah. I guess it's to be expected that you don't keep track of the old stories anymore, what with how much your civilization has advanced." He steps out from behind the counter and walks into an aisle and rustles around, then comes back with a roll of cloth bandages and a container with a translucent liquid in it—probably aloe or something for the burn. "Anyway, how did that happen?" He sets down the supplies and motions to the boy's hand. "Your hand, I mean."

"Oh, this." He gingerly holds out his hand for the man to patch up. "You see, I actually woke up about half-an-hour ago under a bed in a house in that forest over there, and when I left the house a girl with blonde hair dressed as a witch attacked me because she thought I was a thief. I think I sprained my wrist, too."

The man looks to stifle a laugh as he applies whatever that liquid is to his skin. It stung his then-sensitive skin, but then it became strangely soothing.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just ironic that that kleptomaniac Marisa got mad at you for thinking you stole something that probably didn't even belong to her."

"Kleptomaniac? You don't mean to say all of that junk in her house wasn't hers?"

"Most of it, at least, are 'borrowed' goods. Either from me or many of the other people in this place. Ah, could you remove your shirt? Or just roll up your sleeves; whatever you wish to do." The boy rolls up his sleeves in compliance, and the man begins wrapping the hand and his forearm. "It's kind of remarkable that you got away with only this right hand of yours hurt, though. Marisa doesn't normally hold back. So are you just lucky, or are you one of those special outsiders like Usami Sumireko?"

Something snaps.

"Haha…"

A dark aura surrounds the spiky dark-haired boy, making the clerk step back in surprise and the room feel colder. "This Kamijou-san? Lucky? Haa, that's a laugh, storeowner-san. Luck is something I have nothing but the negative kind of…"

"W-Well, Kamijou-kun, I'm sure things will get better…"

Kamijou laughs again, but calms down some. "Well, whatever. Thank you for treating me, er…"

"Rinnosuke. Morichika Rinnosuke. And no problem."

The two of them extend their left hands rather than their right ones for a handshake because of obvious reasons. "I'm Kamijou Touma. Nice to meet you, Morichika-san."

"Likewise, Kamijou-kun." Rinnosuke takes the bandages and container back where he got them from, and talks from back there. "So, you said you woke up under Marisa's bed, right?"

"Yeah. I'm kind of curious how I got there; maybe it has a clue as to how I got to Gensoukyou as a whole." Rather, he hopes there's a clue there, as that's pretty much the only lead he has. And he's never been sent to a place for no reason; he knows _something_ is going to happen soon, and as much as he wants to deny it, he's going to be at the center of it.

"I don't know about that, but one place you're guaranteed to get answers would be at the Hakurei Shrine." There's a pause in the exposition as he comes back into view. "Not only is it that place the bridge between here and the Outside World; but there's a youkai that hangs around there that is able to bring things to and from the Outside World. You should be able to get answers there. I suppose I could lead you there if you give me time to get ready—oh, looks like I won't need to."

 _Huh?_

Someone bursts into the door, making more noise than should be possible.

"Hey, Kourin! Have you seen a spiky black-haired boy dressed like an outsider—whoa, that's him, ze!" She reaches for something, but Morichika 'Kourin' Rinnosuke steps in her way.

"Marisa, please, could control yourself? I don't need you breaking things because you decided to use magic in my store. Heck, you could even burn it down, and what would I do then?"

The blonde calms down considerably. "Ah…well, you could stay at my place, if it came down to it, ze."

"Where would I even sleep, Marisa? Your place is too cluttered to accommodate a guest."

The two seem to forget about him as they jab back and forth, and it becomes clear to him that the two of them have known each other for a long while.

 _Maybe I should leave while I have the chance…_

Before he can act on that thought, however, Rinnosuke turns toward him. "You need to get to Hakurei Shrine. You won't have a better escort than this Kirisame Marisa here. She's there practically every day."

"What?! Why should I have to help this perverted thief?!"

"Don't make me evolve into a perverted thief! I don't want that classification!"

"Marisa," he says, still taking the tactical-yet-slightly-foolish position between the two teens, "I think you're misunderstanding something. This boy _woke up_ in your room without knowing how he got there, tried to escape and had you chase him, spraining his wrist and burning a few layers off of his skin on a baseless accusation of him doing something you do _every day_. If he actually did steal something from you, then this is just divine retribution and you have no right to complain." He says all of this pointedly with his arms crossed, and the witch's mouth opens and closes voicelessly. It seems she can't find a comeback.

"…Fine…" She turns to Kamijou with a fire in her eyes that terrifies the boy for fear of her shooting another laser or worse at him. "Let's go, ze." She turns back towards the door, and Kamijou takes a few nervous steps with her.

"Oh, and Marisa?"

The girl turns towards him with the annoyance clear on her face. "What is it, Kourin?"

"Don't hurt Kamijou-kun. If you really feel the need to be angry, turn it towards Yukari-san, not him. She's probably the one that tossed him there in the first place."

This only seems to appease her a tiny bit. "Mhmm, sure." She pushes open the door. "Let's go, ze," she says as she places her broom at about waist level. "Try not to piss me off even more on the ride. Get on."

"'Get on'? You want me to get on that?"

"Can you fly? No? Then quit bitchin' and get on," she spits as she takes a seat on it herself. "Hurry it up."

 _I can't believe this girl is serious…_

He reluctantly gets on the broom behind the girl and reaches around to grab her around the waist, but she stops him. "Hang onto the broom itself, not me! I don't need you pulling me off too when you fall, ze!"

"So you're saying I'm going to fall off? Didn't Morichika-san say not to hurt me?" He fears for his life as he tries to grab onto her again as she starts to take off, but she struggles.

"That doesn't apply to you fallin' off, idiot! Grab the damn broom and get off me, ze!" She struggles some more, jerking the broom as it hovers a couple of feet off of the ground and continues rising. "Grab on to the broom, dammit!"

She jerks one last time, shifting Kamijou's attempt at getting a grip on the girl.

"…"

"H-h-huh? What is this...it's kind of small—oh…" The girl turns towards him with a furiously red face.

Kamijou sighs and resigns himself to his fate as she raises her hand. "Ah…such misfortune…"

The hand comes down.

And Kamijou's scream of pain could be heard for a mile in every direction.

* * *

"Gah!"

He lands completely on his injured right hand as he rolls into a shrine's grounds. The Hakurei Shrine's grounds, to be exact.

Grunting and picking himself back up, he glares back at the one responsible for his less-than-graceful landing, herself landing free of problems.

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

Marisa dismounts and slings the broom over her shoulder. "Calm down. You're not dead, so you're fine, ze."

She didn't give an answer. But he can guess it's a yes, what with her dismissive tone of voice when she says that.

He hears footsteps by the entrance to the building. He turns his head towards the source.

"Hey, Marisa." She turns to the boy. "And stranger. An outsider, I'm guessing?"

The shrine maiden standing above him in the doorway looks to be around the same age as the magician girl behind him, though she does have a bit of height on her. She has dark brown or black eyes with long, loose black hair accented with a red ribbon and similar-colored tubes on her sidelocks. She's wearing a red-and-white _miko_ uniform, though it could possibly be wrong to call it that since the only thing he notices matches a traditional uniform is the color scheme. Her version of the uniform consists of a red skirt, a sleeveless red top with a white collar tied with a yellow ribbon, and detached sleeves that expose her armpits and what looks like a _sarashi_ , from what he can see. [1]

"Are you the miko of this shrine?" Kamijou gets straight to the point, standing up to face her.

She nods. "Yeah. That's me, Hakurei Reimu. And you are?"

"Kamijou Touma. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She turns to the blonde magician. "So, why did you bring him here, Marisa?"

"He was brought here from the Outside World, supposedly. Kourin made me bring him here so he could get some answers, ze." Marisa seems awfully mellowed out in comparison to when she first met Kamijou, but she still seems to harbor some hostility; he can tell by how she shoots a nasty look at him.

Reimu doesn't seem too happy with this news, either. "And? What makes Rinnosuke-san think that I know something?" She has a tone of exasperation in her voice.

"He doesn't," Marisa says tactlessly. "He's just bettin' Yukari's here snoring her ass off."

The displeasure is present in her expression, but she doesn't get physical like he expects her to. "Well, he's not wrong, then." She hooks her thumb behind her. "She's inside, doing exactly what you say she is: sleeping."

"May I speak with her, Hakurei-san?"

She holds up her hand. "You can call me by my first name. Calling me 'Hakurei-san' makes me sound like an old lady."

"Then, Reimu-san, may I speak with Yukari-san?"

She shakes her head. "For your sake, I'd wait until night, when she's normally awake."

"Is that so…" _What am I going to do until then…?_

"However," Reimu continues, holding up a finger. "That doesn't mean we can't do anything in the meantime."

"Well, what can we do, then?"

"We can head to the Scarlet Devil Mansion." Reimu shifts her gaze to the blonde again, and he follows her eyes.

There's Marisa, with her eyes wide. "You don't mean…"

"Mhmm. We can go see Patchouli and see if she has any answers first."

"But is that really okay? I'd rather not impose on you, Reimu-san."

She waves it off. "It's fine. I'm pretty bored anyway, and your situation seems interesting enough. And even if we don't get any information from Patchouli, we can still waste some time there until Yukari wakes up."

Kamijou bows slightly. "Thank you, Reimu-san." He turns around and bows again. "And you, too, Marisa-san. I appreciate the help."

Reimu appears to not be used to receiving thanks, as she looks kind of like a fish out of water for a second, but Marisa takes a different approach. "No problem, ze. But you should really be thanking Kourin, and not me. He's the one that disarmed me, ze. You'd be nothin' but a stain otherwise."

Kamijou feels a slight sweat start to form on his brow. Looks like it's going to take a while for her to not be hostile to him.

He opts not to respond to keep himself from setting her off again.

Reimu walks forward, almost directly in the spot Kamijou is standing. "Step away a few steps."

He does so, but not without asking why.

"Because this is where I land and take off from."

 _So like a runway…wait a second…_ "What are you using to fly?"

She tilts her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Marisa-san's using a broom to fly like a witch. I assume it's a spiritual item of some sort. What are you using to fly? Perhaps that stick in your hand?"

Reimu looks completely confused. "I don't know what you're talking about, but at least know that this stick is called a _gohei_. I guess it counts as a spiritual item, but I get the feeling you're not talking about it in a way I'm familiar with." She clears her throat. "But anyway, just about everyone in Gensoukyou, through one method or another, can fly." [2]

Kamijou stares blankly at the black-haired girl for a few moments. "Huh?"

"It's too late to pretend you're deaf, ze." Marisa holds her broom down at waist-level.

"You're telling me most people in this place can fly?"

The girls both nod, and Kamijou sighs. "Such misfortune…"

Reimu cocks an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

He concedes to explain to the girls helping him. "There's no way I'll ever be able to fly, so if I have to fight seriously here I'll be at a major disadvantage." His right hand will negate any supernatural attempts at flying, and he doubts he'll find any mechanical means of flight in this ancient Japan-esque land, meaning he'll be envious forever, grounded like a dodo in a world of soaring eagles.

"You say that like you get in a lot of fights," Marisa says with a challenging tone to her voice. "That can't be true, with how you ran from me earlier."

"Well, as much as I don't want to admit this; I've been in a lot of fights. And a good fighter knows when to run away," he says pointedly as he walks towards the blonde girl.

Reimu eyes the boy. "Well, Marisa has a point; you certainly don't seem like much of a fighter."

He shrugs. "I guess."

He attempts to get on the back of Marisa's broom, but the girl stops him.

"Is something wrong, Marisa-san?"

"I don't want to lug you around anymore. If you can't hold on normally, don't get on, ze."

 _She doesn't plan to let me get on even if I can meet her criteria, is she?_

Ignoring this probably-correct train of thought, he continues to try and sit down on the broom, much to the blonde's chagrin. "Oi, get off!"

"Why are you even mad at me, Marisa-san? I thought Morichika-san cleared up the misunderstanding!"

"He did." She stops struggling all of a sudden. "I just wanted to screw with you a bit." She gives him a wicked grin. "Kirisame Marisa. Nice to meet ya."

"…"

He doesn't know how to take this. All this time wondering if she actually hated him turned out to be for nothing.

"Kamijou Touma. Back at you."

He grips the shaft of the broom with his left hand, letting his right hand pretty much just dangle and he looks at the shrine maiden about to fly without any kind of equipment, and without a spiritual item that looks like it could aid with flight. But then again, he's only a complete amateur when it comes to the magic world, so it's more than likely she possesses something he can't see.

The girl rises along with the two of them, inspiring shock in the boy despite having seen people fly, or at least levitate before. (Though those were more science side espers than magic side magicians; apparently it's very dangerous for magicians to fly.)

After ascending high enough, Kamijou tightens his grip and a second later, he lets out the second scream of thirty minutes.

* * *

[1]: Miko=Shrine Maiden, Sarashi=a wrapping used to cover up the abdominal (or in this case, chest) area and compress it. Traditionally used to resist injury and to give women an appearance of having a slimmer figure. Reimu wears it not so much to fit with a body image, but just to keep her breasts in check (I guess.), what with her wearing that sleeveless shirt that exposes so much side material. (*coughcougharmpitscoughcough*) Don't misunderstand and think she has big breasts, though. They're average at best.

[2]: Reimu and Sanae's sticks. They normally have a charm or something attached to the end, and shrine maidens use them to bless or sanctify people or things in Shinto rituals.

 **Note: Well, that's that. 1 chapter done. I know a lot of Touhou fics consist of shenanigans, inserting a male character for an easy 'make-your-own-harem' situation and similar themes, and I know this possibly may not look a lot different from the rest of them. However, if you look at genres, there's no 'comedy' or 'romance' tag. 'Drama' neither. So yeah, I'm hoping this is going to be something a bit different. More on the serious side like Kamijou's world, or pre-Barrier and Spell Card Rules-Gensoukyou. Or maybe ImperfectMetamorphosis!Gensoukyou. (Just kidding, I'm not going to take this into _that_ realm of savagery.)**

 **And yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on the next chapter of the Retry Arc, but I'm holding off for a reason. Chapter 11 is done, Chapter 12 is almost done, and maybe even farther than that. I'm planning on giving the people following that a multi-chapter update. Keep this in mind as you read this: this is 2nd priority in comparison to the Retry Arc.**

 **Anyway, rate and review, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	2. Welcome to Gensoukyou II

**A/N: Alright, well, here we are at chapter two, part two of this introductory arc. You may already be able to deduce this, but this introduction will list all of the big names for this story. Right now, we have the man Kamijou Touma himself, Kirisame Marisa, Morichika Rinnosuke, and Hakurei Reimu. The one character you all know will show up if you paid attention to last chapter will be Patchouli Knowledge. And let me tell you right now; I have no clue how I to really write her. I don't know if I'll be able to grasp her character well, but only time will tell.**

 **Oh, and review responses. There's one I have to respond to by 'Guest':**

 **This story takes place right after NT 10, but that doesn't really matter since I only really use the information I get from the novels for making connections and references to the source material.**

 **Without further ado: let's resume.**

 **Chapter 2: Welcome to Gensoukyou II**

* * *

Kamijou groans.

"You know; I think this Kamijou-san likes being on land more than flying…"

He groans again as he rolls onto his back from an all-fours position.

Marisa pouts in a kidding way. "Aw, so this is what you think of my show, ze? I did it for you, Kamijou."

He glares at the blonde magician. "'Did it for me', my ass! You know I only have one hand to hold on with; why would you do aerial acrobatics? I have enough trauma from falling from high-speed flying things already, you know!"

She rubs her index fingers together.

"…What is that supposed to be?"

"The world's smallest violin playing 'My Heart Bleeds for You'."

 _That…was a strangely creative way of telling me to suck it up…_

Reimu sighs and stops their back-and-forth. "Before we go in this mansion, keep two things in mind." She holds up a finger. "One: it's way bigger inside than it is outside."

Kamijou's jaw goes slack. As he looks upon the enormous Western-style abode and wonders what need there is for such a big place.

And it's bigger inside than it is outside? Spatial distortion or something similar must be at play here. He's not sure if he's ever had to deal with phenomena like that.

"And two," Reimu holds up a second finger, "this is home to vampires. And always remember that there are two of them, in case we get separated."

Kamijou nods slowly. As he rises, he lets a long sigh escape his mouth.

Reimu raises an eyebrow and Marisa pokes him. "What's with that?"

He gives the girls a dull look. "That was just the release of energy from my brain exploding," he explains in a flat tone. "Vampires, huh? And two of them?"

He feels the urge to cry for the second time today.

"They won't try to suck my blood, right?"

Marisa shakes her head. "With all the times we've been here, they haven't tried it. And I've come here almost every day, so…"

"They don't eat you when you trespass because they're afraid they'll turn into a klepto like you."

"No, it's because they love me too much. They would miss me when I'm gone, ze."

The shrine maiden waves it off. "Sure they would. I think they would just be glad to have you out of their hair."

 _I wonder what exactly their relationship is…_

Before he gets the chance to voice this question, Reimu points towards the gate. "Looks like China-san's sleeping again."

The blonde magician scoffs. "You say that like it's not a common thing, ze."

The 'China-san' they're speaking of is a well-endowed girl with long scarlet hair and wearing green traditional Chinese dress and a similar-colored beret with a golden star on the front of it and the kanji for 'dragon' on the front of it. which he finds strange, since most of what he's seen in this world so far are Japanese in origin, disregarding Marisa and this mansion itself. Maybe Gensoukyou is a conglomeration of all cultures' myths and legends or something like that.

Said 'China-san' is passed out in a chair beside a gate.

"Um…what exactly is China-san supposed to be doing?" Kamijou seriously hopes she's not what he thinks she is.

Reimu begins to walk; the remaining two follow along behind her.

She motions to her. "That there is Hong Meiling, the gatekeeper for the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Some of us call her 'China'. As you can see, she takes her job very seriously."

As if in response to the jab at her work ethic, Meiling jerks in the seat and mumbles. "…Taisui Xingjun, I will defeat you…"

 _Huh?_

Kamijou looks to the two for some kind of response, but the two girls just continue by her and push open the gate.

"In we go…"

 _Isn't this trespassing?_

Even though he's done it before, he can't help but feel a little bad for it. He's genuinely afraid that, with his (lack of) luck, the vampires will find him at fault and drain him of all of his blood.

He reluctantly trudges in after the two of them.

 _This may be a bit inconsiderate to Himegami, but I wish she was here so she could deal with them if things get out of hand._

This Himegami he's referring to is his classmate Himegami Aisa, who has the (alleged) ability to kill vampires. He says 'alleged' because there question as to whether vampires even exist in his world, but now he figures it's impossible to remain skeptical.

The party of three reaches the grand doorway to the mansion and knocks on the door. "Yo, let us in, ze!"

"We need to talk to Patchouli!"

…

Or so he wished would have happened. That would have been bit rude of them, Marisa especially, but it was at least considerate to the owners' right to let someone in and out of the house. In reality, his partners just opened the door and walked in, announcing their arrival to the mansion stating their names and their business. In fact, this boisterous behavior has caught the attention of what appear to be fairy maids, judging by the near-transparent wings on their backs. However, once they see who the source is, they turn away and continue about their business.

He enters the house as well, muttering "Pardon my intrusion" as he steps in and shuts the door behind him. A couple fairies turn their attention away from their work once again, and their curious gazes linger on Kamijou.

"Um…hi. I'm with those two that just walked past."

They all eventually turn back to their work, and Kamijou lets out a sigh of relief as he catches up with the red-and-white miko and the blonde-haired magician.

"I thought they were going to lynch me…"

"Hm?" Reimu turns back to him. "What did you say?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing." He notices Marisa in the lead. "Where is this Patchouli-san located, Marisa-san?"

"In the library," she answers without looking back. "We have to walk for a little while longer, ze. We told you this place was bigger inside than outside, right?"

"Yeah. How much longer are we talking, then?"

"Hmm…" Marisa seems to ponder this. "I'd say a couple of minutes more."

Reimu seems to notice something off about the situation. "Wait, what are we doing walking in the first place?"

"Ah."

 _The fact that you can fly slipped your mind, Marisa-san?_

He sighs. "Must be nice…"

Again Reimu turns to face him, asking, "What do you mean?"

"Flying has become so second-nature to you people that you can forget you're able to. Meanwhile, for me, it is a complete impossibility." Oh, how much easier things would be if he could fly…the whole trek to Denmark to get Othinus' eye back would have been so much faster and easier if he could.

"If you're going to complain that much, you could always get someone to teach you. People will do a lot of things for money, you know, plus a lot of us in Gensoukyou have nothing better to do with our time," Reimu suggests.

"I would, but they'd be wasting their time. And besides, do you guys even take yen here?"

Marisa peeks back at him at the statement, and Reimu raises an eyebrow at the question.

"Why wouldn't we? Gensoukyou was a part of Japan before it got sealed from the Outside World in 1885. Yen was in circulation then, probably."

"Ah. Still, it wouldn't work."

Reimu finally decides to ask the question Marisa seemed to want to ask. "Why not?"

He holds up his right hand. "You see, mo—"

"Here we are, ze!"

Marisa interrupts with this grand proclamation, throwing open a pair of massive double doors.

The inside of the room takes his breath away.

"Wow, that's a lot of books," Kamijou states this observation in a kind of stupid tone, probably because he's not the most studious of people (through no fault of his own). In the 'Outside World', his attendance at school is so bad because of the various injuries and subsequent hospital stays that it's almost a guarantee that he won't be advancing to the next grade.

However!

He will not give up hope. He will graduate! He has to! For his enjoyable high school life!

"Isn't it?" Marisa says happily, looking at the place that makes Kamijou feel like the word 'library' doesn't do it justice.

"The National Diet Library has nothing on this…"

"I'm guessing that's Japan's national library," Reimu asks as they walk into the enormous home for books.

He nods. "That, and it's the eighth-largest library in the world." He brings out this piece of useless knowledge from some game show he watched back in Academy City to emphasize the fact that this library is profusely large. "Actually, if I include Gensoukyou as part of my world, the Diet library would change to the ninth."

Reimu frowns in response to the knowledge. "Is that so." She cranes her neck to look further down the massive rows upon rows of books. "Hey, Patchouli-san! Are you busy?" The shrine maiden calls it down the rows, and an unfamiliar voice comes from a row on their left.

"M-Marisa? Didn't I tell you I had no intention of lending you books?"

The blonde makes her boisterous voice heard. "I know that, but it's fine, isn't it? You're goin' to live way longer than I am; can't you just take them back when I kick the bucket?" There's a pause and some strangely loud shuffling in comparison to the mostly silent library. "Of course, if you can teach some way to extend my life, I can give the books relating to that back, ze."

They hear Marisa grunt as she's almost definitely mushed out of the mystery girl's face. "Absolutely not. Why would I extend your life and only get some of my books back when, as you said, I can have someone take them all back after your life expires?"

Marisa gasps. "You want me dead, Patchouli? I thought we were better friends than that!"

"You said it, not me."

Kamijou turns to Reimu. "I'm guessing that's Marisa bickering with the girl we came to see?"

She nods. "Patchouli Knowledge. A hundred-or-so-year-old magician. Or maybe a witch. I don't know which of those is more accurate."

"Ah, another magician. Are her and Marisa part of the same club or cabal?"

Reimu shoots him another puzzled look. "Look, Kamijou-san, I don't know what knowledge of the Outside you're trying to apply here, but give it up. Lots of things in the Outside World just don't apply here."

 _Ah…damn, why did it take me that long for me to get that? This place would obviously be a bit different from the Outside World._

While Kamijou starts to get frustrated at his slowness, Reimu continues to speak. "Marisa's just a normal human who trained herself to use magic. Patchouli is a natural magician who was born able to use magic."

She speaks this in a manner like she just answered a stupid question, despite him not asking a question requiring that kind of answer. However, he doesn't say anything about it.

The two of them start walking towards the aisle the bickering magicians are in.

 _I wonder what this Patchouli-san is like. She sounds like a serious book type. No doubt the Fetish King Aogami would try to make a pass at her._

They finally get the two into their sights, and see Marisa hugging a girl of her height from the side, with said girl squirming to escape her grasp.

The two of them notice them, and Marisa's grin widens while the purple-haired girl manages to break out of the most-likely-nonconsensual hug.

This girl, Patchouli Knowledge, hardly looks the age that Reimu stated she was. She looks anywhere between thirteen and fifteen years old, if her average-sized chest is any kind of testament to that. She has long purple hair and matching color eyes, she's wearing what basically looks like pajamas of a pink variety with a nightcap with a golden crescent pin on it. There are many ribbons tied into bows on her person, including four blue and red ribbons and each side of her hair swept around her front.

Her serious air is making Kamijou relatively uncomfortable. Usually, when he comes across a very serious person, they will try to shock him with electricity or use other various means to make an attempt at his life.

"Hello, Reimu-san. And hello to you, too, boy. My name is Patchouli Knowledge; what business do you have here?"

 _S-so forward…_

"He woke up here in Gensoukyou, realized it wasn't his home, and wants answers."

Reimu gives her a GIST statement, and Patchouli nods in acknowledgment.

"Tell me: what is your name?" The girl has turned her attention back to him.

"Kamijou Touma."

Her eyes widen for a moment and she reaches inside of her pajamas for something. "Could you write that down for me?"

 _Huh?_ "S-sure…" She hands him a pen and paper, and he braces the paper on the bookshelf to write it down, the two girls that guided him looking over his shoulder.

When he's done, he hands it back to her.

"Hmm…"

"What," Reimu asks. "What did you want him to write his name for?"

"Because," she writes something on the paper and hands it back to him for the three of them to look at. On it are two more lines, totaling to three lines of characters that mean different things but can be read the same: Kamijou Touma. Well, in actuality, the third one only has the 'Kamijou' part. "When his name is written in the correct way, it has no real meaning, but the second one can mean 'The One Who Purifies God and Slays Demons', while the third one can be read as 'The One Above God'."

"Oh, that." Kamijou dismisses this. He's slightly shocked that his name can be read in these ways, but in the end it's not a really big deal. While he guesses it's justified for Patchouli by how names seem to mean a lot to magicians, especially with Outside World ones who adopt a whole name in accordance to their purpose for using magic, it's just a way to state identity to the non-magician Kamijou. "You shouldn't put too much thought into my name, Knowledge-san—," he stops himself because of how strange it sounds. "Is it alright if I call you Patchouli-san instead of Knowledge-san?"

She nods. "It's fine. No one addresses me by my surname alone anyway."

"Okay then, Patchouli-san. Please, don't bother putting so much thought into my name; it's really nothing special."

She shakes her head. "Maybe not to you, but here in Gensoukyou names are a very meaningful thing. For example, Kirisame," Marisa perks up, "means 'drizzle' and Rinnosuke means 'helps the long rain'. The connection is there both in name and in their relationship. Also, my last name is testament to the extensive knowledge I've gained over time." She turns finally to Reimu. "And then there's your name, Hakurei Reimu."

The shrine maiden looks expectant, but unfortunately for her it appears the purple-haired girl has to do extensive thinking to think of something. "Hakurei means something along the lines of 'esteemed companion', and Reimu means 'spirit dream'."

Reimu looks dissatisfied, though not nearly as much as Kamijou imagines she would look if Patchouli had been unable to produce any results.

"But anyway, Reimu-san, shouldn't you be able to—" She stops suddenly for reasons not readily apparent. Upon inspection, he sees Reimu sliding a finger across her neck.

 _What? Is she threatening her? Was that information I wasn't supposed to know?_

"Kamijou-san, can you tell me when and where you first woke up?"

"Maybe two-and-a-half hours ago, under Marisa-san's bed."

She puts a hand up to her chin, the other one holding tightly onto a book. "Hmm…That's not exactly close to the Hakurei Border." She turns to Reimu. "Have you asked Yukari-san yet?"

She shakes her head, but Marisa's the one who answers. "Kourin sent Kamijou and I to Reimu's place hoping that Yukari was there."

Reimu sends a nasty sidelong glance at Marisa. I guess she didn't like being answered for when she was obviously capable of the action herself. Not to mention Marisa didn't even answer Patchouli's question. "Yukari's still sleeping, so we came here in hopes that you could give us some answers in the meantime."

"Well, if he appeared somewhere near the border maybe we could blame the 'spirited away' phenomenon. But considering the fact that he woke up in such a peculiar place near the center of Gensoukyou, all evidence points to Yukari-san." Patchouli says this in a matter-of-fact manner, and turns on her heels to head somewhere towards the back of the room. "But it's only four o'clock or so. I doubt she'll wake up for at least a few more hours."

"The second reason why we're here." Reimu holds up two fingers.

"Arguably the main one, ze."

Patchouli sighs, and Reimu elbows Marisa in the side. Kamijou could feel the awkwardness produced by that statement.

"Well, Kamijou-san, Reimu-san, I suppose you two can look around for a bit."

Marisa points to herself. "What about me, ze? Don't I get to look around?"

Patchouli grabs the girl around the wrist. "You're coming with me."

The two of them leave, pajama-clad girl somehow dragging the blonde magician towards the back of the room, Marisa struggling all the way.

A breath escapes Reimu's mouth. "I swear those two are dating."

"R-really?"

For whatever reason, Kamijou feels dirty, hearing his flustered reaction to it. Maybe because the idea of forbidden love, at least on the girl's side of things, is pretty exciting.

She seems to catch on to his train of thought, but surprisingly doesn't look at him like a lecher like his freeloaders Index or Othinus or his one-sided enemy (on her part) Shirai Kuroko.

 _Speaking of Index and Othinus…are they going to be okay without me there? I know Tsuchimikado's sister feeds them when I'm not there, but they're likely to run themselves ragged trying to find me._

He should probably find a way to get back soon. He wishes this Yukari-san would wake up soon.

"It's at least speculated," Reimu explains, walking down the aisle and halfheartedly flicking through pages in a book. "No one really believes it, but it's fun to tease them with."

"Is that so?" He looks through some books in the aisle as well and finds a copy of The Art of War, the strategy book by Sun Tzu. While he's not particularly interested in that topic, he figures that, if it will take up some time, he doesn't mind reading it.

…

 _On second thought…_

He puts the book back and searches for something else. He couldn't get into the book, despite the attentiveness a book of such philosophical value garners from most human beings, so another book is in order.

He comes across a tome with a dragon inscribed on the spine of it.

He had had dragons come out of his exploded arm during the Daihasei Festival. There were about, eight of them or so, if he remembers correctly. He's unsure of what made those come out instead of the force that came out during his fight with Fiamma, and he doubts he'll get any answers from this.

The front of it has the word _'Ryuujin'_. Dragon God.

Okay, so maybe it won't have information of his dragons specifically, but this can be a start. If he disregards what Reimu said about things from the Outside World not applying to Gensoukyou.

He opens the book and turns to a random page.

 _'This Dragon God is undoubtedly the most powerful being not only in Gensoukyou, but the Outside World as well._

 _Details on the scale of the Dragon God's power:_

 _In nature, there are the three attributes of the three lights, four seasons, and five phases. Within this, the Dragon God comes from the five phases (commonly called Wu Xing). Before the Dragon God created the five phases, the loop of sky to rain to sea repeated over and over, and it was a perfectly harmonious world. Into this, the Dragon God bestowed the shape of the seven colors of the rainbows, and the flow of the three, sky to rain, rain to sea, and sea to sky became wood engendering fire, fire engendering earth, earth engendering metal, metal engendering water, water engendering wood, wood conquering earth, earth conquering water, water conquering fire, fire conquering metal, metal conquering wood, thus creating complication and ten powers of destruction. It is according to this that all things in nature live.'_ [1]

 _So the dragons are just as much of a mystery in Gensoukyou as it is in the Outside World…_

He continues to read, taking in information about this Dragon God. He finds out that the Dragon can move freely between worlds such as the Outside World, Heaven, Hell, and the Netherworld.

He finds himself wondering who would be next in line power-wise, but dismisses it. He doesn't know enough about Gensoukyou to start making assumptions and trying to compile lists.

"Kamijou-san!" Reimu calls for him from the entrance of his aisle. While he'd been rooted in place reading the Dragon's profile, she had been jumping from aisle to aisle, looking at a few books in each then moving on to the next. "We're about to leave!"

"Alright!" He calls this back and puts the book back. If he were certain that there was no way back, he would ask Patchouli if he could borrow that book. But for now, back on the shelf it goes.

He goes to where Reimu called him from, and she motions for him to follow. He assumes she's leading him back to the entrance of the library.

He wasn't wrong, and the magician duo is waiting there as well.

"Took you long enough, Kamijou." Marisa turns toward the boy and his companion. "We thought you got sucked into a book or something."

"In a way, he did," Reimu says. "I was watching him for a good five minutes, and he was so into it it looked like he forgot to breathe."

He rubs the back of his head. _I was really that into it?_

"Anyway, what time is it now, Patchouli-san?" Reimu pitches that question to the purple-haired magician.

"About half-past six."

"Okay, then we'll be heading back. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," she says. She then turns to Marisa. "Remember to do that favor I asked of you, Marisa."

The blonde mock-salutes. "No problemo, Patchouli!"

 _I wonder what that favor is…_

Considering the fact that it's none of his business, however, he dismisses it. "Thank you, Patchouli-san." He bows slightly.

She nods. "Don't mention it. Best of luck in getting home, Kamijou-san."

His expression darkens, but he manages to keep himself from going off on a self-deprecating tangent about his dismal fortune. "Thanks…"

Reimu puts her hand on the doorknob. "Well, time to go. See ya."

Patchouli nods and walks away, back to whatever it is in the back of that room.

The shrine maiden pushes open the door and walks out, her similarly-aged companions following along.

She turns back to them, planting a foot and pushing off, allowing herself levitation. "Oh, and we're flying back, by the way."

Marisa seems to have a similar thought process, as she's already mounted her broom. She smiles devilishly at Kamijou. "Hop on, Kamijou! I have a couple more tricks I'd like to show you, ze!"

He looks at the two girls and sees no way out of it. Sighing in defeat, he hops on the back of the magician's broom and grabs onto the shaft. "Such misfortune…"

"Oh, lighten up, will ya?" Marisa turns around to look at him. "As long as you hang on tight, you shouldn't end up embedded in a tree, ze!"

He holds up his right hand. "Did you forget what you did to me, Marisa-san? Still sprained; still missing skin."

"You'll be fine, ze. Just fine."

Those were the last words he could make out clearly before they zoomed out of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and into the world.

* * *

"Again, this Kamijou-san really likes being on land more than in the sky. It's unnatural."

Kamijou complains to Reimu and Marisa after another graceful landing in front of the Hakurei Shrine. At least he didn't fall on his injured hand this time.

"Suck it up," Reimu says, throwing him a towel. "It may not be normal in the Outside World, but finding a person that can't fly that isn't human is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

He begins to dry himself off. He had fallen off of the broom while Marisa was doing a barrel roll, and was thrown into Misty Lake, the one that surrounds the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the island it's located on.

Needless to say, he was freezing on the high-speed ride back, and even though he was able to dry off some when he was able to get on back on the broom, he was still very moist and the towel is much appreciated.

"You two are humans, too, you know," he says matter-of-factly, rubbing the towel into his hair.

"Yeah, but I'm special." Reimu says 'I' instead of 'we', making him curious as to what that makes Marisa.

His question gets answered. "And Marisa is dedicated. She was the one that made that broom able to fly, you know."

"Ah."

Marisa was inside, checking to see if Yakumo Yukari was awake. And so, the two black-haired teens were outside waiting patiently for the blonde-haired magician girl to come back with the report, or even better, the person herself.

"Hey, Reimu-san." Kamijou breaks the silence.

"Hmm?" The girl had already begun sweeping the shrine, returning to her normal duties. As such, she did not look up to respond.

"What is Yukari-san like?"

Reimu frowns, as if that was an unexpected question. "Well, in essence, I'd say Yukari-san is a very…youkai-like youkai."

Kamijou quirks an eyebrow. "And what kind of youkai is that?"

"Well, she sleeps a lot, as you can tell, and lives life purely for enjoyment. She's kind of playful. In a condescending way; expect to be mocked whenever she wakes up."

 _Ah…_

He would have thought something more, but a slightly disheveled Marisa comes out of the house.

She walks up to Kamijou. "Prepare your anus, boy. She's in a bad mood."

 _What did Yukari-san do to her?_

Marisa then proceeds to sit on the steps leading up to the shrine. Reimu sends her a pitying look, but says, "I asked you to check if she was awake, not to actually wake her up, you know. You brought this on yourself."

The blonde growls and gives her the finger. "I didn't do it on purpose, ze! That damned Oni tripped me up with her horn and made me fall on her!"

Reimu looks surprised. "Suika's here?"

"Yeah," Marisa spits. "She's passed out in your room, ze."

There's even more surprise from the shrine maiden. "Yukari was in my room too?!"

Marisa nods, fingering the lip of her hat. "She took your futon, while Suika was passed out against the wall."

She sighs. "Wh—" She's cut off.

Eyes.

All over are eyes. In every direction. Nothing but them. No color, no nothing.

"Ah…"

It reminds him of his fight with Othinus, almost. Except at least there's something perceivable for him to latch on to, rather than complete darkness.

A single step is taken.

"Ah…Is anyone there?"

It feels like his voice didn't travel any farther than a foot in front of him.

He feels strength leave him with each step he takes.

"Hello?"

His pace quickens as he moves. He can feel his chest getting tighter and his mind getting more and more cluttered with panicked statements. One of them prevails over others, however.

 _I need to get out of here…_

 _I need to get out of here!_

"Get me out of here! Please!"

Memories from his fight with Othinus come flooding back into his mind. So many tragic memories he'd blocked out because of the trauma, many more that were bearable enough for him mind to keep but were equally damaging.

Any second now, the Magic God will show up to through him into that hell again…

He trips over his own two feet, tumbling to the ground.

His breathing is speeding up, his hair and clothes are sticking to his body thanks to newly-produced sweat, his hands are shaking.

 _Not again…_

He amends his previous statement. All the eyes make it seem like the people behind them are mocking his helplessness and ignoring his pleas for help.

He curls up, bringing his knees to his chest and squeezing his eyes shut, hoping this is just a nightmare and not what it really is.

"H-hey, Othinus…a-aren't we done with this? Didn't we solve this back at Sargasso? There's no need to destroy the world again, right?" His voice is shaky, his throat dry, pleading for the god's reason and to cease this nightmare.

"Whoops. Didn't know he had that kind of trauma."

He hears a voice, and his eyes shoot open, expecting to see the magic god in front of him.

But instead he sees a long blonde-haired woman with a bust of the highest prestige, looking to be maybe in her late teens or early twenties with golden eyes. She's kneeled down; wearing a deep purple dress and a pale pink mob cap with a red ribbon on it. In her hand is a pink lace parasol that's blocking out the setting sun. She has ribbons tied along the two locks of hair draped down her front as well as numerous others on the tips of her hair and elsewhere on her outfit.

Though it's not what he wants to say, Othinus' name finds its way into his mouth again.

The woman shakes her head. "Not 'Othinus'. I'm not that war god. I'm Yukari. Yakumo Yukari."

He realizes he just made a rather pathetic first impression, with him cowering on the ground like someone suffering from severe PTSD. Which he is (not that he's been diagnosed), so that's justification in itself.

He tries to push himself up, but feels an intense pain in his right hand and yelps without meaning to.

The woman offers her left hand, and he takes it, the woman pulling him up with surprising ease.

He sees his companions through most of this day, Reimu and Marisa looking at him with worried, almost pitying looks, and realizes just how bad he looked a second ago.

"Don't worry, you two. I'm fine."

Those two don't buy it, but it seems verbal confirmation is enough to appease them, if only for the moment.

Their attention switches from Kamijou to the newcomer.

"What did you do that for, Yukari-san?"

"I know you're mad that Suika made me wake you up, but you didn't need to take it out on the boy, ze!"

Reimu seems to be the calmer of the two, though only by a little bit. For whatever reason, they're extremely mad at the woman for doing whatever it is she just did to him.

Wait…

"Yukari…san…?"

The woman curtsies. "That's me. You were searching for me, if I'm not mistaken?"

He nods. "Ah, yes. I was wondering if you would happen to know how I got here."

The woman—a youkai, from what Reimu told him, seems to engage herself in thinking for a few moments, and then she smiles in a way that makes him incredibly uncomfortable.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you how you got here due to a lack of information."

He feels his hopes of getting home diminishing by the minute. "What am I supposed to do now?" He looks over to his companions and sees Reimu looking incredulously at Yukari, while Marisa looks just as shocked as he is. He guesses it's for a different reason than he.

It's confirmed. "How can you, the Youkai of Boundaries and the most powerful and informed being in Gensoukyou not have enough information?" Marisa is absolutely, positively unable to comprehend Yukari's lack of information. "And even if you didn't have enough information, you could still—"

 _Huh?_

Her mouth moves, but no sound comes out, which seems to surprise everyone except the Youkai of Boundaries.

Now Yukari's mouth moves, and there's another wave of shock to the younger girls' faces. However, Kamijou is left further confused as all he can hear is silence.

"I would send you back, Kamijou-chan," the woman behaves like nothing just happened. "But my power doesn't seem to work on you."

Reimu and Marisa open their mouths to protest, but Yukari holds up her hand to silence them. "I may be able to enclose him in one of my gaps, like you all just saw, but I can't seem to send him anywhere. Which is, unfortunately, kind of useless to get him across the Hakurei Border."

Kamijou sighs at his misfortune. From what he can tell, she boasts the power to get people across the border of Gensoukyou and the Outside World, but the mysterious right hand he possesses interferes with his only chance to leave.

"Looks like I'm going to be staying here for a while, then." Kamijou resigns himself to his fate, a disappointed look coming across his face. "Such misfortune…"

"H-hey, now, Kamijou." Marisa shoots up from where she was standing. "Relax! We'll find a way to get you back home, so don't give up hope, ze! We'll show you a good time while you're here, too!"

He shoots a grateful look her way. "Thank you, Marisa-san. I appreciate the sentiment." He decides to add something. "Please, let me know if there's a way I can help out."

Marisa gives him the same salute she gave Patchouli back at the library. "No problem, ze!"

"Then it's decided." Yukari brings herself into the conversation again. "Give me a moment to get you some living arrangements."

 _Living arrangements? Is she getting me a house? A roommate?_

She reaches her hand into what looks like a tear in the fabric of reality, probably the place he had freaked out in a few minutes ago, and a surprised yelp comes from inside. "Hello~! Rinnosuke-san!"

"K-Kourin?" Marisa seems visibly shocked.

The Youkai of Boundaries speaks into the gap, and the shop owner's voice comes through. "What do you want, Yukari-san?"

"I can't get Kamijou-san across the barrier, so could you let him stay with you?"

"Huh?"

Everyone except Yukari makes this surprised noise.

"I can't have him stay with Reimu-chan or Marisa-chan, since he has quite the record in the Outside World for getting into shenanigans involving nude women."

"Hey!"

The two girls present look at him like he's a lecher.

"Tell the whole story! The whole story! Tell them that those 'shenanigans' were unavoidable accidents!"

She shrugs. "You're the one that keeps forgetting that knocking is a common courtesy."

He grits his teeth in the unfairness of it all.

"I can't agree to let him stay at the Scarlet Devil Mansion either because of the same reasons, plus they're much less tolerant of such things over there. He runs a real chance of dying, if only because of Sakuya-san's intolerance of behaviors like that."

Rinnosuke makes an affirmative noise. "I guess he can stay with me."

"Thank you, Rinnosuke-san."

The gap closes before he can say another word.

"Now that that's been settled, I will take my leave. I have some…punishment to distribute."

And with that, the youkai disappears into one of her gaps.

Kamijou lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"A lot of people get that way when they first meet her; don't worry." Reimu picks up her broom, which she dropped at some point, and resumes sweeping her shrine.

"Sometimes, I hate how she can be…But there's no helping it. Yukari will be Yukari, ze." Marisa gets up and storms toward the shrine, picking up her own broom. "But anyway, Kamijou: who is 'Othinus'?"

Kamijou swallows. "Ah, she's just a…good friend of mine."

"You said something about destroying the world though…that doesn't sound like something a friend would do." Reimu speaks her opinion.

Kamijou sighs. "I guess, but she wasn't a friend at the time."

"She is now?" Marisa asks this with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, she is." He leaves no room for argument. "But anyway, despite her…quirks, Yukari-san seems decent enough."

"Even after giving rise to that trauma?"

He nods. "She didn't know that it would give rise to that kind of reaction, so there's no use holding a grudge."

The girls seem to give this some thought. "You're strange, Kamijou-san."

"Way strange, ze." Marisa mounts her broom. "Anyway, let's get you over to Kourin's."

He nods and gets on the broom behind the blonde. "See you later, Reimu-san."

"See you, Kamijou-san, Marisa."

And with that, Marisa makes the broom rise and take off into the sunset, in the direction of Kourindou.

* * *

[1]: In all honesty, I copied and pasted this from the wiki.

 **A/N: And that's a wrap. Two characters, Patchouli Knowledge and Yakumo Yukari established themselves as big names for this story. Only three left now. The introduction will be wrapped up next chapter.**

 **And now, he's going to be chilling at Rinnosuke's place. That's nice. I've always thought of Rinnosuke as that black sheep in the Touhouverse, what with being one of the only dudes in the series. So there's going to probably be some bonding in that respect between Touma and him.**

 **Leave a review and all that jazz, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	3. Welcome to Gensoukyou III

**A/N: And so, I put up a poll on my profile page asking what your favorite main Touhou game is (main, as in any whole number game) from the Windows Era. Go drop a vote on your favorite game if you want, and results will be put up for it whenever I post Chapter 10. Or April Fools' day. Whichever comes first.**

 **Now for reviews:**

 **Guest 'adv' and 'Loggin In': Thanks for that. I really have no clue if I can write breakdowns and similar occurrences (I tried my hand at one in my other fic) well, but if you and others think it's good, then that's enough for me.**

 **Guest: I did have the wiki up as I was writing...I didn't see that, but I do remember reading that meaning in one of the light novels. Maybe I can chalk that up to Patchouli not knowing everything. Oh, and I did in fact mean 'lip of her hat' (I have no clue if that's the right way to address the rim of the hat—I just answered my own question, didn't I?), Touma actually never stepped foot inside Reimu's house, peculiarly enough. Everything at her shrine either came to him or he left with them. Yukari is an example of the former, coming to him from the inside of the house.**

 **Blaster522: So that's what that spell was called...thanks for that. I knew that that spell was the reason why flying wasn't used commonly by magicians, but I couldn't remember the name. Also, I'm pretty sure our MC doesn't know about it. Thanks for the fun fact.**

 **As for the remaining three characters...well, we'll just have to see who they are. Shall we begin?**

 **Chapter 3: Welcome to Gensoukyou III**

* * *

"And that's what she said."

Reimu is seated on the steps, talking to a bespectacled bake-danuki. The youkai in question has brown eyes and shoulder-length, light brown hair, with a leaf resting on top of it. She's wearing an ecru shirt with a brown vest over top of it and a red and grey skirt. On her feet are sandals with soles a couple of inches in length with bells on it, and there's a gourd filled with sake and in her hand is a golden pipe.

However, what stands out the most on this girl is her animal ears and big, bushy, striped tail.

Her name was Futatsuiwa Mamizou.

"So that's what she said, hmm? I wonder what she's planning."

"Me too." Reimu sighs and takes a gulp of her tea and leaning up against the steps of her shrine. Even though it was rather chilly tonight, she finds she doesn't really mind this cold despite her exposed shoulders. "Why did she make me keep quiet about being able to send him back, though?"

"Yeah, she's definitely planning something." The youkai takes a sip of the sake from her gourd. "But really, I'm more surprised by the fact that she said she wasn't able to transport him."

"She said something about his right hand negating supernatural things. I've got no clue what that's about, though. He doesn't look like the type to have any kind of special power." Reimu says this and looks up at the slowly emerging stars. "Do you think it's true?"

Her question is answered without words when she sees the Tanuki's expression: one of knowing interest.

"...You know him? From your time in the Outside World?" The shrine maiden throws this guess out there, to which the animal-like youkai responds affirmatively.

"Not personally. But I've heard of him through numerous sources. He's almost like an urban legend, in fact."

Upon hearing Mamizou's comparison, she groans. "I've had enough of urban legends, thank you very much."

"I think it was kind of interesting."

Reimu scoffs. "You can only say that because you weren't involved in the final battle. And there's no way you could have forgotten what it almost led to."

"The 'purification' of Gensoukyou; I know. That's quite the euphemism, by the way."

"The Lunarian's words; not mine."

The Tanuki stands up. "You said he was going to be staying at the half-youkai's place, right?"

The shrine maiden nods. "What are you planning, Mamizou-san?"

She lets loose a chuckle and a mischievous grin. "Why, I'm going to see the boy, of course. Maybe confirm his existence with my own eyes."

The black-haired, armpit-flaunting miko shrugs. "Do what you want."

* * *

"Sorry for imposing on you, Morichika-san."

"It can't be helped. Don't worry about it, Kamijou-kun."

The spiky-haired sixteen-year-old boy has made it to Morichika Rinnosuke's shop, this time without falling off of Marisa's broom. Yes, even during the landing.

However, misfortune not befalling him when he expects it just means it's being saved for something else.

This 'something else'…well, let's just say he got a show. A show that involved being beat by a broom at the end of it.

"Oh, so you switch to a polite attitude when there's nothing for you to ogle at, huh?" Marisa taps her feet from behind the two sources of testosterone, appearing to be expecting something from the boy. "You didn't even make an effort to woo me before you tried to dive in, ze!"

Kamijou looks at the girl in disdain. "No matter the world, I just can't escape my misfortune…"

This seems to piss the blonde off even more. "Oh, so you seeing up my dress is just 'misfortune', is it?" She holds her broom as if she's ready to continue clubbing him with it. "Oh, trust me, I'll show you that the real misfortune here is you pissing me off, Kamijou."

"Now, now, you two, I'm sure it was an accident," Rinnosuke makes an effort to calm the two, or rather, one of them down, but to no avail.

"No, no, I get that, ze."

Marisa surprises the both of them with this statement.

"If that's true, then why are you still mad, Marisa-san?"

She fumes. "Because somehow, you just went about your business like nothin' happened! How can you talk to me normally after that? Show some kind of reaction, dammit!" She jabs the broom at his foot, causing him to trip and land on his bad arm.

"Freaking OW!" He clutches his bandaged wrist and looks at the furious girl. "I apologized, didn't I? Isn't that enough of a reaction for you?!"

She grips the broom tighter, making her knuckles turn white. "You could at least _pretend_ to be flustered, or something! You just saw a girl's panties, ze! And a cute girl at that!"

 _Aren't you tooting your own horn, Marisa-san?_

"If that's the case, you're getting angry over the wrong thing!" Kamijou argues back, clenching his fist despite the pain.

"What should I be getting angry about, then?"

"The fact that I actually saw them!"

 _Wait…did I just say that?_

Rinnosuke sighs. "You two, that's really enough. Both of you did something wrong here." He points to Kamijou. "You don't understand women enough, so I won't put you completely at fault here, but a maiden's heart is a fragile one. As much as Marisa doesn't seem like it, she is a teenage _girl_ who's pride as one would be hurt if a boy her age seeing her panties didn't affect him in the slightest."

 _Women are so confusing…_

He points to Marisa. "And you are getting mad at the wrong thing. While girls would understand your train of thought, most boys don't. There's no use in getting mad at that. Not to mention that, as Kamijou-kun said, you ought to be mad at the fact that he saw them, not that he didn't react to them."

 _Bless you, Morichika-san._

He hopes he projects that thought to his savior.

Marisa, still fuming, looks at Kamijou out of the side of her eye. "Sorry for blowing up like that, Kamijou."

"It's fine." He waves it off. "Sorry for looking up your dress in the first place."

She sighs as she finally looks like she's calming down. "You know, apologizing about that is meaningless when we both already agreed it was an accident, ze."

"W—"

"So, Marisa, how about joining us for dinner?" He interrupts the boy and perhaps stops another argument before it happens. "We're having _tonkatsu_." [1]

"Hell yeah!"

Marisa's eyes light up. It seems Marisa is a food lover, and that communicates to Kamijou that his idea that offering a girl food will calm her down is effective. He has Index to thank for that.

He begins walking to where he guesses the kitchen is. "Well, come on and help make it."

Marisa's sudden cheerful mode dampens slightly, but she's still basically skipping to the kitchen.

Kamijou moves to go to the kitchen as well to help in making the food, but the silver-haired shop owner stops him.

"What is it, Morichika-san?"

"You go on and get acquainted with your room." He points in a direction. "It's on the end of the hallway on the right."

"Ah, thanks." The boy, having not moved from his spot at the front door other than falling to the ground, takes off his shoes and sets them down as his now-landlord heads to the kitchen, where he can hear Marisa eagerly assaulting the kitchenware to make the food.

He steps onto the cool wood and admires the house. It's a humble place, small by a family's standards but not unreasonable for someone that lives by himself like Rinnosuke. It doesn't seem like it would be too cramped if it's just him and the shop owner either, which is a plus.

He goes down the hallway and turns to the room Rinnosuke said was his, sliding the door open and finding an _extremely empty_ room.

"Ah…"

He supposes it's because he's not that used to traditional Japanese homes, what with him living in a modern age where Western culture is adopted easily, but the sight of no bed in the room gave him a few seconds of shock.

There's a window exactly opposite of the door, a handheld lamp with a box of matches beside it in a corner, a closet on the left wall where he knows his sleeping arrangements are stored, and there's a painting of a dragon hanging on the right wall.

He takes a seat on the tatami of the more or less plain room, scooting to the closet and pulling it open.

"…What the hell is this?"

The usual things that are supposed to be in a closet like this would be the futon. That's packed in like it's supposed to be on one of the shelfs.

However, the not-so-usual things include bowls, computer towers, routers, floppy disks, a television, an Xbox, a Sega Dreamcasts, Gameboys, electric fans, battery powered fans, etch-a-sketches, speakers, and _a hookah._

 _A hookah._

"Of all things…"

Kamijou finds himself wondering about the moral standing of his landlord.

Also, why did he store it in here? There's no way he could have rushed to clean up this room before he showed up, right?

Then he sees the gravure magazine in the corner close to the entrance of the room.

 _Looks like he didn't get everything_.

He scoots over to the magazine and slides it towards the closet, it reaching the door and Kamijou using his foot to push it inside and close the closet door.

It could serve as material to help him get the upper hand if he's ever in a disagreeable position with the half-youkai.

Wait. If he's half-youkai, can't he easily overpower him, making that plan totally useless? He could off him and blame another, unsuspecting youkai, and Gensoukyou would be none the wiser.

Shuddering, he derails that train of thought. It's a scary idea, and though he doubts it'll happen, it is still a real possibility.

Sighing, he uses his left hand to push himself back up to his feet, and leaves the room, heading for the kitchen. His stomach is protesting heavily, so if he helps maybe dinner will get done quicker.

* * *

Futatsuiwa Mamizou was a master of disguise. Or mistress, if you prefer. Her ability to change the appearance of herself and others is a very convenient one. Whenever she goes to the Human Village, she wears a disguise consisting of longer hair and a kimono or other clothing. The leaf on her head turns into a hair clip, and using her disguising ability, which more specifically allows her to manipulate the physical properties of a target, she can shrink or camouflage her tail and ears. However, something she cannot mask with her power is her scent, for a well-groomed animal will still smell like an animal.

But of course, there's perfume for that.

Spraying on the sweet-scented perfume, she finds herself content with how she looks. Her tail has been shrunk down to a stump, her ears in a similar position, hidden by her now waist-length hair.

"There we go…"

She cranes her neck to look down the hallway. "Hey, Nue!"

A head with black hair, red eyes, and some red metallic-looking wings protruding from their back pops out from a corner. "Yeah, Mamizou-chan?"

"I'm going to head out for a bit. If anyone asks, tell them I'm around the Forest of Magic."

"Will do, Mamizou-chan. You going out to cause some mischief with that magician girl? Or maybe even that Unmoving Used Goods Seller?"

The disguised Tanuki laughs. "No, no, I'm not going there for that. I'm just going to confirm the existence of something."

The nue girl's interest seems piqued, since she steps out into the open to look at the tanuki. She does the same. "Oh? And what would that 'existence' consist of?"

She holds a finger up to her lips. "For now, it's a secret."

Nue grins mischievously. "Well then, since you won't tell me, how about a danmaku fight? If I win, you tell me what it is you're going to 'confirm the existence of'."

Mamizou sighs. She supposes it's only fair to go along with her, since the nue is always sitting around the edge of the Myouren Temple looking bored. She deserves some entertainment every once in a while.

"Fine. If I win, you'll wait patiently until I tell you."

The grin widens. "Deal."

* * *

Long story short, he didn't want Rinnosuke to experience what having a freeloader is like, so he offered to help out around the shop during the day. His response was this:

"I couldn't do that; you only just got here in Gensoukyou."

When Kamijou looks like he wants to complain, he adds, "Look, just go out some and explore. At least get to know the area around the shop. You'll get lost and attacked by youkai otherwise."

"That…makes no sense. Won't I get attacked if I'm left out there alone anyway?"

"Ah…"

It seems the shop owner came to realize this flaw.

"W-well…" He disappears into the aisles and comes out with a cone-shaped contraption in hand. "Since you're from the Outside World, I assume you know how to work this…thing. My ability tells me that this can be used to project and amplify your voice. Use it when you're in trouble, and you'll have either me or Marisa coming to help."

There's another flaw in the fact that it could also call in other youkai, but Kamijou just doesn't say anything. Considering the fact that Rinnosuke can't leave his shop because he has no employees, the spiky-haired boy will have to take what he can get.

"Thanks, Morichika-san."

He waves it off. "If you really want to start helping out, I'll put you to work for a bit tomorrow."

He bows slightly. "Okay. Well, I'll be—"

"Oh my, who do we have here? An Outsider?"

A woman with long light-brown hair and bespectacled brown eyes walks into the shop, her kimono doing little to conceal shapely figure.

"Futatsuiwa-san? How rare it is to see you here," Rinnosuke says as he greets the lady.

The scent of perfume wafts its way into his nostrils, and though the aroma is present, he can detect a bit of an…animal-like smell in it.

Kamijou bows again. "H-hello, miss. My name is Kamijou Touma from the Outside World."

She nods her head and a look of excited recognition shines on her face. "Ah, Kamijou Touma, hmm? My name is Futatsuiwa Mamizou. So you're the one that comes up so much in Outside conversation."

"Wait, I get talked about? Actually, better question: you're from the Outside World?"

She nods again. "Yes, I am, in fact, an outsider. You get talked about quite a lot in many communities, with your ending of World War 3 and your defense of the Magic God against the world."

While Kamijou only wears a look of modest surprise, Rinnosuke looks downright shocked. "Wait, what? Kamijou-kun is that strong?"

Kamijou shakes his head. "No, not at all. I just happened to have the right power and connections for the occasion."

"Is that so…" The silver-haired man seems very thoughtful all of a sudden, and the woman steps into the aisles.

"I'll see you at a later date, Kamijou-kun." She waves as she disappears into the aisles, and Kamijou decides to take his leave to do what Rinnosuke suggested.

As he steps out into the chilly morning, he looks both ways. To the left is the general direction to the Hakurei Shrine, to the right is the forest he came out of the day before where Marisa is settled, and directly in front of him …well, there's mystery. A direction he's yet to go in.

Normally, he'd be worried about getting lost, but as long as there's a path, like the one he's on now, he should be fine.

Clutching onto his megaphone-slash-lifeline, he begins down the path.

"…"

After a good half-hour or so of walking, the scenery had begun to change. The trees lining either side had become sparser and sparser, he had come to an intersection, where he went forward, and eventually he came across a floating black sphere.

… _What is that?_

He wonders if it's some youkai and clenches his right fist, despite the pain in it. It did seem to heal a considerable bit overnight, so he had taken off the wrapping but rewrapped it upon Rinnosuke's request. It was a rather sloppy job, with some skin still showing on his hand and it being a little loose around the fingers, but it does its job, he supposes. Though it still feels terrible when he moves it.

He stays as still as he can and observes the anomaly, watching it drift lazily a few feet above the ground.

 _No way…_

He watches the direction the ball his heading in.

 _This can't be possible…is it really…?_

' _THUNK!'_

"Kya!"

He can't bring himself to make an expression. What he just saw was completely and utterly hopeless.

The tree the mass was headed toward was partially swallowed up by the sphere, and then it shook as the mass hit the tree.

And then the noise came out. The girlish noise.

That prompted Kamijou to come to assist. "Um, hello? Are you okay?"

There's a strange silence as he feels the featureless black mass staring at him, and then it drifts towards him. Instead of running, however, like his body is telling him to, he remains rooted to where he was, letting the thing draw closer.

5 meters away…

1 meter away…

Blackness…and then the sound of something breaking as cracks form, filling the sphere with light and eventually breaking it apart.

He looks down at his poorly-attempted mimicry of Rinnosuke's bandaging technique, in all of his exposed skin's glory, and looks back at the girl.

"…"

"…"

They can't find anything to say.

In front of him, he sees a girl around the age of Academy City's number 3 level 5 esper, Misaka 'Railgun' Mikoto. For whatever reason, she's floating with her arms splayed out and She has red eyes with short blonde hair, dressed in a black skirt and vest over a white blouse with a red tie around her neck. Peculiarly enough, there are two red beads on either side of the tie about the size of a golf ball.

In her hair on the left side of her head is a red ofuda. At first, he thought it to be a ribbon, what with how it's fastened there, but upon closer inspection it is in fact what he said. [2]

She points at him. "Who are you, human?"

"Kamijou Touma. An outsider." The girl's eyes seem to light up. "And you?"'

"Rumia. The Youkai of the Dusk." She licks her lips. "I usually find this a pain to do, but since you seem to be such a unique human, I can make an exception."

The girl's behavior, not to mention her race and ominous name puts him on guard. "What do you mean by that? What are you going to do?"

She looks at him like he just asked a stupid question. "Why, eat you, of course! Isn't that my duty as a youkai?"

 _How should I know?!_

He takes a step back; she takes a step forward. "Um, can we do this a bit later? I only want to explore a bit! Is that too much to ask?"

She shrugs. "You shouldn't have told me you were an Outsider. Outside humans aren't protected under the Spell Card rules."

 _Spell card rules?_ "What are those?"

She wags a finger at him. "Not telling! You should have studied up before you ventured out here, Outsider!"

The next thing he knew; the youkai was in front of him.

 _Shit!_

He jumps back to avoid a lunge and picks up a few pebbles from the road underneath him. While alone, these may not do much other than irritate the victim's eyes, in numbers they can obscure vision and disorient enough to make an escape.

That's what he was going to do now.

The youkai preps herself to lunge again, and he throws the pebbles and dirt in front of him as the monster charges at him, getting them into her eyes and blinding her.

However, instead of stopping to deal with it, she continues moving, barreling into his chest and knocking the wind from him.

"Gah!"

He lies on his back with the girl squirming on top of him and looks at the object he has with him,

The megaphone.

 _Sorry about this, but I don't want to get eaten today!_

He turns on the microphone and yells, "HEY!" right in her face.

However, instead of the word, he got feedback.

Lots and lots of it.

His ears feel like their ready to burst, and he's not even on the amplified end. He can't even imagine what the youkai's feeling right now.

 _Sorry about this!_

He swings the tool from the side, hitting the girl in the side of the head and causing her to let out a strangled cry, discarding the tool and pushing her off of him.

He takes off, leaving the scene blindly and cursing his misfortune. "Why does this happen every time?!"

After a minute or so of a steadily-decelerating run, he begins to walk again, confident that he lost her.

"Good, good, I lost her."

He looks around at his surroundings, taking note of the bamboo that the normal trees turned into at some point during his run.

 _A bamboo forest, huh?_

Well, since he needs to get back to the place he's going to be calling home for an indefinite period of time, he should just go back the way he came, but there's no telling if that youkai is still lurking there. Not to mention the fact that he did take a bunch of twists and turns to ensure the girl couldn't follow him. His only option is to walk in one direction until he breaks out of the brush.

He decides to do just that as marvels at the beauties of nature. Around him he can see little rabbits scurrying around, some of them even staring at them before running off somewhere. The peculiar diagonal growth of the bamboo is something interesting to him as well.

He walks.

"…"

 _I can't have walked that far…_

There's no real way for him to judge the distance he's walked, since bamboo is special in that every stalk pretty much looks the same. However, that normally shouldn't be a problem, since the ground usually doesn't look the same as you walk, either.

"…"

He unwraps the bandage and lets it fall to the ground as he walks, using it as a way to check where he is in this lacking-in-landmarks area.

His eyes widen as he walks some more.

"O-Oi…"

The white cloth lies lazily on the ground in front of him.

"Is this…another one of…"

He shakes his head vigorously. He won't let himself go on that train of thought. If he lets himself shut down here, he might actually die before someone finds him.

Taking deep breaths, he accelerates into a speed-walk, trying to see if he comes across the bandage again and, lo and behold, there it is staring him in the face, mocking his helplessness.

 _Is this forest cursed? Does it have a spell cast on it that twists terrain to make you return to where you started? Did it transport me to a tiny world that only consists of the ground I've been seeing so far?_

As he fires out theorems and questions about the nature of the forest he's in, a voice completely shatters his slowly deteriorating world and replaces it with a functional one.

"Hey."

Slowly, he turns his head, expecting the female voice to be another youkai of sorts. Actually, it's hard to tell either way, since youkai seem to look a lot like humans, in contrast to what he's heard from the stories he was told as a kid.

What he sees is a girl around his age, looking to be albino with her ankle-length off-white hair and red eyes. She has on a discolored white shirt with what looks to be soot on it, red pants with paper charms on them, and similar charms tied into her hair, like the ribbon on top of her head.

She looks particularly bored, with her hands in her pockets and leaning her modest figure lazily against one of the bamboo stalks. In a setting like Academy City, she would definitely be considered trouble.

"Hey," she repeats. "You trying to go somewhere? Or do you just want to keep running in circles?"

"Ah…yes!" He struggles to compose himself in front of the extremely frank-seeming girl. "Would you mind showing me out of this forest?"

She shrugs. "Follow me." She begins to walk without waiting for him.

 _H-hey! Don't just offer to lead a person out and then leave them!_

He accelerates rapidly to catch up with her, however, is faced with a problem.

This silence is imposing as all hell.

So…

"What's your name?"

Kamijou is surprised to be beaten to the punch. "Ah, Kamijou Touma. And you?"

"Fujiwara no Mokou."

 _Fujiwara…_ "As in, like, _those_ Fujiwaras?"

She looks at him out of the corner of her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

 _Surely she's heard of them before._ "You know, the ninjas? The ones thought to be youkai exterminators?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Still don't know what you're talking about."

 _I guess not…_

"Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? You're from the Outside World, right?"

He nods. "It must be the uniform giving me away."

She mimics the gesture. "You won't find many in Gensoukyou wearing Outside World clothing. She shakes her head, making her hair jolt about. "You know, you're pretty brave for an Outsider. Either that or ignorant."

"Why?"

"Outsiders are automatically at a disadvantage in Gensoukyou, since they're not protected by the Spell Card rules. Since youkai aren't allowed to eat native humans, they jump at any free meal they can get." She points at him. "Legal pickings like you are delicacies to youkai."

Kamijou sighs. "Such misfortune…" He shoves his left hand in his pocket. "So, what exactly are these Spell Card rules?"

She glances over at him again. "How long have you been in Gensoukyou?" She seems to ignore his own question.

He thinks back to when he woke up under Marisa's bed. "Only about a day."

She looks genuinely surprised. "You're really lucky then. Most humans are captured and about to be eaten my now."

He shudders. "I don't want to think about that…but anyway, what are these Spell Card rules I keep hearing about?"

Mokou kicks a rock out of her way. "They're basically rules put in place to give humans a fighting chance against everything else in this place."

"'Everything'? Are humans really the weakest things here?"

"Not _the_ weakest. The fairies are under them in strength, but they have their own powers in their possession…yeah, humans really are at the bottom." She amends this statement without looking at him.

Kamijou's mood deflates. He went from the top to the bottom of the food chain in a day.

"Come to think of it," Fujiwara no Mokou continues, "you said your name was Kamijou Touma, right?"

He nods.

"Well, there was this youkai girl—Rumia, I think her name was, that was looking for you. She seemed pretty pissed." This time she looks at him full on. "What did you too to make her that angry?"

Kamijou feels the trek back to Rinnosuke's shop is going to be that much more difficult. "Why does every day of mine have to have such unfortunate twists to it?"

Mokou shrugs again. "What did you think of the forest?"

"Huh?"

"What did you think of the forest? When you first got in, when you were chasing your tail like a dog. You know."

"Ah…Well, it's a pretty beautiful place. Once I got to walking in the same loop, though, it started reminding me of…things." He isn't sure if he should share how the loop reminded him of one of Othinus' worlds that his brain didn't seal away. It would probably make the atmosphere awkward. "How did that happen, by the way? Does this forest have a curse or spell cast on it or something?"

She shakes her head, again sending her hair into a frenzy. "Nothing like that. It's a natural phenomenon. The way the bamboo grows throws off your balance, the uniformity of the bamboo and the landscape plus the rate at which bamboo grows makes it impossible to use anything as a landmark, and even when you think you're walking in a straight line, you end up back in the place you started because of the illusion it makes."

 _To think I talk about crushing people's illusions all of the time…only to be utterly defeated by one here…_

"We're out."

Mokou's blunt tone of voice breaks him out of what would have been a depressed mental rant. And, true to her word, they were back out into onto a road, where you could only get lost if you were an idiot.

"Ah, thank you, Mokou-san. I appreciate you leading me out."

She waves it off. "Don't mention it. I'd advise getting to shelter before nightfall; otherwise you'll end up a sitting duck for youkai. That Rumia girl especially."

Upon being reminded of the fact that he'd pissed off a youkai, he bows to her. "T-thank you! See you later, then!"

She kicks off of the ground and levitates, and turns around. "See ya." She flies back into the forest without another word.

He begins to jog down the road, but his pace slows to a crawl as he realizes something.

He doesn't know his way back to Kourindou.

He takes a deep breath, preparing to scream out unfairness at the world, but instead yelps as a hand taps his shoulder.

"Remember me?"

"R-Rumia-chan?"

He feels the blood leave his face as he turns to find himself nose-to-nose with the Youkai of the Dusk.

"Wah!" He jumps back as far away from the girl as he can. "H-hey there."

"Don't you 'hey there' me, human! You made me deaf in my left ear!"

He puts up his hands. "H-hey, now, that was an accident! I didn't want to cause any lasting damage! It just kinda, you know, happened that way!"

Her menacing smile devolves into a scowl.

He bows to her. "Please don't eat this Kamijou-san, Rumia-chan! I meant you no harm!"

She continues to float in front of him, but breaks out of the 'crucifixion' pose she adopted to cross her arms. "You better give me good reason to forgive you, otherwise you're not going to look any different from normal meat in my belly."

Kamijou gulps as he thinks of a way, any method to escape this approaching nightmare.

And then he has an idea so stupid, so idiotic that it might work.

And that is…the way he deals with his freeloader's fits, a girl otherwise known as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

While what he has for miss Rumia here might not count as real food, he hopes to every god that hasn't abandoned him that this will work.

Reaching into his pocket, he asks, "Say, do you have any interest in Outside snacks, Rumia-chan?"

This seems to calm the girl down substantially. "Outside snacks? What are we talking here?"

He pulls out the pack of gum that was in his pocket when he woke up in Marisa's room. "Have you ever heard of 'gum'?"

Rumia reverts to her crucifixion pose and tilts her head to the side. "Like, the tree?"

Kamijou shakes his head, trying to hide the relief that he's getting somewhere. "No, not the tree. I'm talking about the Outside snack." He takes a piece out of the pack and unwraps it. "You put in in your mouth and chew it until it loses it flavor." He pops the piece in his mouth to demonstrate, then takes out a piece and holds it out to the Youkai. "You want some? It's strawberry flavored."

The girl's eyes light up. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" She grabs the gum with one hand, unwraps it, and sticks it into her mouth. However, she never let go of his hand.

She frowns slightly. "This barely tastes like strawberry."

"But it's still good, right? Right?"

She nods.

"Then please, stop trying to crush my hand!"

She looks smugly at him. "You think I'd just let you go after you show me something so interesting? I'll just eat you now, and take the snack for later."

"No…no, wait! How about this?" He somehow wrests his hand away from her, despite aggravating the sprain and youkai's supposed super strength. "How about we meet outside of Kourindou every day, and I give you another piece. In exchange, you don't kill me! How about that?"

Rumia thinks it over for a moment. "Okay, deal!" She floats up into the air and generates that sphere of darkness he first saw her in. "See you tomorrow then, human!"

He waves feebly as the girl slowly but surely flies away from him. He releases a breath he didn't know he was holding and pockets the gum.

 _Good, good, crisis averted._

It seems his skills with ad-libbing are still a force to be reckoned with.

However, one problem still remains.

 _I still don't know how to get back to Kourindou…_

He takes a deep breath. Nothing will stop him from cursing the world this time.

"…SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

[1]: Tonkatsu is basically breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It's amazing, so I can totally understand Marisa's reaction to the dinner invite.

[2]: An Ofuda is a paper charm. Used in Shinto amulets and talismans for things like purification, exorcism, protection, or 'sealing'. They show up in Rumia's hair, Mokou's pants and hair, and Yakumo Ran's hat.

 **A/N: And that's that. Another chapter taken care of.**

 **...I know, it looks like this has taken over as the main project. I guess it kind of is, at this point. But I'll be back on the Preventers' train whenever I get my inspiration for that story back.**

 **So did you guys expect Rumia and Mamizou to be big parts of this? Okay, so maybe Mokou and Rumia were obvious as they were in the character listings, but was Mamizou's appearance something that surprised you? Anyway, I have no clue if I wrote Mamizou and Mokou right. Hopefully I did. Hopefully.**

 **Also, let us establish that just because a character didn't show up in the introduction doesn't mean that they won't show up later on or grow to be important. In fact, there's already one character that fits that criteria due to a certain...bodily similarity. See if you can guess who it is.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	4. Between the Lines 1

**A/N: Here we have a Between the Lines chapter, which is here to get into relationships other than Kamijou's, foreshadow future events (usually an upcoming arc), and maybe show us what's going on in the outside world. These are going to generally be shorter chapters not from Touma's point of view, but there will possibly be some exceptions. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Anyway, reviews** **(Thanks to everyone who reviewed by the way.):**

 **enigma95: Well, call it a harem if you want, but it's more like boys are severely outnumbered by girls in Gensoukyou, so he has no choice but to be surrounded by women. The number of named humanoid male characters in Touhou can be counted on one hand. It's not intended to be a harem in a romantic sense, but I suppose it is one in principle.**

 **Guest 'adv': Yes, what is Touma going to do once he runs out of his life-extending gum? That is the question...Well, he'll (I'll) figure something out.**

 **blaster522: Interesting. I don't have any arcs where anyone else from the Outside World enters Gensoukyou. Or rather, not an arc that involves any of the level 5 espers. I will agree with you when you s** **ay Touma befriends the strangest people. And as for that other character...well, I suppose you'll see when we get there. I think even if you were keeping up with the games you wouldn't have known or expected this person.**

 **Guest 'Loggin In': Thank you for the review. I'm glad you liked the irony. As for the OOC-ness...well, I didn't expect to get him right at first. In fact, I expected to have a lot more issues with his character. But all I can do about it is ask your and everyone else's patience and to point some such issues out as I go. I'll get better as I progress.**

 **And now, may the chaos commence!**

 **Chapter 4: Between the Lines 1**

* * *

 _Late November..._

* * *

 _Name: Kamijou Touma_

 _Age: 16_

 _Appearance: Average height, spiky black hair, blue eyes_

 _Occupation: Student at A Certain High School_

 _Level: Zero_

 _Status: Missing as of three days ago._

 _—Details: Last seen walking into his dormitory at around seven P.M. on November XX, 20XX. No reports came in about the young man leaving his house after that, so the assumed time of disappearance is the night between then and November XX, 20XX._

 _If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of this young man, contact Anti-Skill immediately._

* * *

A nun adorned in a white habit with gold trim looks up at a display on the side of a building, displaying the boy's face and information on him. Cradled in her arms is a calico cat, and half-inside the cat's jaws is what appears to be a doll.

"Touma..."

The doll, through some means or another, turns her head upwards to look at the nun who spoke—the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or 'Index' for short. The calico cat even seems to stop its attempt at what looks to be the consumption of said doll to look at its depressed co-owner.

The doll, who is actually a magic god by the name of Othinus, draws her lips into a thin line and looks at the girl. She feels just as bad as the Index does, maybe even worse, with what the magic god and Kamijou Touma went through together, but she can't allow the nun to fall into a depressed stupor. Not only would it mean she would have to search for alternative means of sustenance, but just thinking of seeing the girl fall into such a wrecked state makes her sick to her stomach.

"Hey, girl, don't be so down." She pushes a whisker out of her face and makes a brief attempt at escaping the cat's jaws, but to no avail. "This is that human we're talking about. He'd probably just off helping someone, like always." _Most likely some girl..._

The Index looks down at the doll and manages to pry her out of the cat's jaws. "That's the problem!" She holds her up at arms length, so that Othinus is looking in her eyes. "What if he gets hurt again? And don't forget that she picks up a different girl every time it happens!"

"I obviously don't want that either. But we can trust that he'll come back alive. He came back from World War III and Denmark alive, and whatever he's involved with right now can't be any bigger than that. He'll definitely return to us, and we can have him cook up a feast for us when he comes back, okay?"

This seems to put her at ease, if only by a small margin. "Well, he is Touma after all. All we can do is wait for him."

"Mreow!" The cat, Sphinx, meows its agreement. "Yes...all we can do is wait...

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, a tea-haired girl wearing the uniform of a prestigious school in Academy City wears an exasperated expression on her face as she reads the report on a similar building display.

"Geez, where has that idiot gone off to now?"

Her bangs crackle in frustration at the boy for disappearing on her. It's safe to assume that he's off getting involved in some outrageous incident again, and that doesn't sit well with her at all. She'd prefer if he didn't get involved with these things at all, but since she can't change his nature she'll direct that disapproval at something else: his insistence at shouldering these issues on his lonesome. Whatever he's doing, would it have been too much to just stop and ask for _someone's_ assistance? It's been proven that he can't defeat every opponent he's faced with; the magician he faced on top of the metro line in Tokyo Bay was testimony to that.

It doesn't even have to be her helping him. He has connections to a lot of noticeably strong individuals; as long as someone is with him to cover his weak spots, she'll back off for the time being. Of course, as per tradition, she will fuss at him about it later.

She sighs. "Just don't die, wherever you are. You massive idiot..."

* * *

His epithet is 'He Who Defies Finality', or the 'End of the Century Emperor'. His real name is Hamazura Shiage.

This level 0, who is out shopping for groceries for his group, ITEM, looks up at the display board and sees the missing person report. Needless to say, he's shocked.

But at the same time, it's not something too unexpected. More likely than not, he's out saving someone again. And if that's the case, they can rest easy.

Their problems will be solved. They will be saved.

And he will return, like always.

He exhales and adjusts his grip on his groceries, and continues back to the base of ITEM.

* * *

Accelerator. Real name unknown. Or rather, forgotten, so he adopted the epithet of Accelerator.

He can also be referred to as 'He Who Wields the Power of God'. If you do call him that, though, it's likely that he'll either ignore you or dismiss the idea of things as unscientific as gods. That may just be attributed to the environment he's living in, as adopting the fact that magic exists in his everyday life is not something easily done, if you're raised on science.

He saw on the news that the boy known as Kamijou Touma has disappeared.

"What the hell is he doing..."

He doesn't particularly care—he can take care of himself. Nevertheless, for him to disappear...there's usually some kind of commotion that follows. And rarely do the things he gets involved in last more than a day. The others may have blind faith in him, but Accelerator can feel something wrong. He doesn't know what's going on, but it doesn't seem like one of his normal incidents.

Well, that, or he's just over-thinking things.

He rolls over on the couch and closes his eyes, hoping to every power out there that Last Order doesn't wake up and start to bother him.

"Tch. Whatever."

* * *

"So, whatcha need, Patchouli?" Marisa rubs her wrist where the purple-haired youkai magician grabbed her as she dragged her away from her partners Hakurei Reimu and Kamijou Touma. She assumes there's something relatively serious to talk about, judging by how she ensured she didn't wander off by holding on to her.

"What's really going on?" Patchouli is straight to the point asking this of the blonde magician girl.

"What do you mean?" Marisa leans back on Patchouli's desk, looking at the girl questioningly.

"First of all: Reimu's here. It's wintertime, so she's even lazier than usual; the only thing that should really get her this active at this point is another incident. Not to mention you seem to be strangely invested in this as well; what is it you're not telling me?"

Marisa grins at Patchouli. "Nothin', ze. This really is just a case of a spiriting away. Reimu got involved because of the strange way he turned up here, and I'm here mostly because I was the first person Kamijou met. Well, that, and that right hand cut my Master Spark like butter, ze."

This seems to pique her interest. "Well, let me ask you this: were you using Spell Card rules when you shot it?"

Marisa waves a hand in front of her face and shakes her head. "Of course not! Knowing he was an Outsider and thinking he was a thief, do you really think I would hold back?"

This interests the old magician even further. "That's interesting...I've never heard of just a simple negation ability..."

This, however, surprises Marisa. "This is the first time you've heard of this, Patchouli? Really?"

She nods. "Really. The value in this discovery is phenomenal...imagine how it could be used..." Patchouli goes off on a rant about the prospective uses of the ability, what she could do, who she'd show up, etc., but Marisa has stopped listening.

 _This is a one-of-a-kind power...something like a human treasure, ze!_

Her treasure-hunting senses are tingling...but his power's not something she'd have any use for. If it were an item of his, she'd definitely try to steal it and at least pawn it off after some research or carry it around to use in danmaku battles. But since the ability is part of his body, there's not going to be any pillaging of that. Not because she's particularly worried about his well-being, but because she'd rather not have a human body part in her possession. That would be creepy.

"Well..." Marisa pushes off of the desk and faces in the direction of the now-levitating magician, where a clock is hanging on the wall. "It's gotten late enough, right? Shouldn't you be ready to send us on our way?"

She quirks an eyebrow. "Do I really need to do that? Both you _and_ Reimu know the way out of here."

"It's fine, isn't it? Think of it as the last time you'll see that miraculous hand of his, ze." Marisa claps a hand down on the purplette's shoulder as she says this, earning the purple magician's irritation as she shakes her off.

"Well, fine." She begins to walk towards the entrance. "But, Marisa, in the unfortunate event that he can't make it back, please bring him back here. I'm sure you are just as interested as I am about the capabilities of his right hand."

Marisa puts her broom on her shoulders and drapes her arms over it like a scarecrow. "You bet I am!" She falls silent for a moment after her enthusiastic response. "But is it bad that I'm actually hopin' he doesn't make it home now?"

"I'll say it is. Selfish would be the better term, rather than a general 'bad'." She descends to the ground in front of the doors. "But I'm in the same boat as you, so I suppose not much can be said on the matter."

* * *

 _The next day..._

"So yeah, apparently Yukari's powers don't work on him, either." Marisa invaded the Scarlet Devil Mansion earlier in the morning to inform Patchouli about what transpired at the shrine the previous evening. Here she is, wrapping it up.

"Even Yakumo-san's power don't function on him...that's interesting. I find myself really wanting to research that peculiar ligament of his." By this point, the purple magician isn't even bothering to hide her curiosity. It's showing plainly on her face.

"Right? But I couldn't find him when I went to Kourin's shop earlier. He said somethin' about him exploring the area around his shop."

Patchouli shuffles some papers around on her desk. "Does he at least have someone with him for protection?"

Marisa holds her hands up in resigned confusion. "I asked him the same thing, ze. He said he had a tool that could project voices long distances with him."

Patchouli lets out a sound in an unbelieving tone. "One of those Outside World contraptions, right?" Marisa nods, and the magician sighs. "He just might die today."

"No arguments there."

* * *

 _The following morning..._

"Oi, Patchouli! He's alive!"

"Mukyu!"

"...Huh?"

Again, Marisa bursts into the massive library with some a report, startling the still-groggy magician into alertness. So much so that she releases her trademark noise for surprise (or even the rare event of her pouting).

"Goddammit, Marisa! Don't startle me like that!"

The blonde magician looks confused, but doesn't give it the time of day. "Whatever! He's alive, he was at Kourin's place in one piece, ze! Now we can capture him and do stuff!"

"Way to be official about it," Patchouli says facetiously as she straightens out the papers and such she displaced when Marisa startled her. "And? You want to begin this early? I thought we would wait until a bit later to start." She props her chin on her hand and looks at the blonde.

"Official isn't me, I thought you realized that. That's more up Reimu or Sakuya's alley." She says this with an embarrassing amount of pride.

The purple magician pinches the bridge of her nose. "Forgive me for forgetting I'm talking to a carefree idiot."

"Oi! Who are you callin' an idiot?" She leans over Patchouli's desk, prompting her to back up to keep the witch girl's hat from hitting her in the head.

"Well, I let Koakuma sleep in today, so obviously you." When she sees Marisa open her mouth to respond, she holds a hand up to silence her. "But that's beside the point. Are you going to go get him or not? The quicker we get him, the quicker we can get started, and the quicker we can get answers."

Marisa concedes begrudgingly, taking her broom and mounting it. "Fine. I'll go get him, ze."

Patchouli nods and takes a notebook and a quill pen from her desk, then start scribbling something on it. "Take care, then."

"What's that?" She points to the notebook the magician is scribbling in. "You makin' a template for a report or something?"

She shakes her head. "I'm setting up his first test. If you could, use the auxiliary entrance, and tell him to open the door when you bring him, if you don't mind."

The blonde raises an eyebrow questioningly. _Wonder what she's planning..._

She kicks off the ground and sends herself into flight, reaching the auxiliary entrance high above the ground with a metal door securing it, then rushes out of it to find her target: Kamijou Touma.

* * *

 **A/N: And so...yeah. That was written. These 'Between the Lines' chapters are significantly less structured in their planning than the arcs that follow, so forgive me if they're a little...iffy.**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you guys think, and I'll see you guys next time.**


	5. The Scarlet Devil Incident I

**A/N: Alright, so here's part one of this first arc for you guys. Expect some chaos in the form of the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Lots and lots of chaos.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Deep Sea Diver Man: Haha, thanks, I guess. I don't know about it being 'sexy' though.**

 **Guest: Magic gods, magic gods. I've yet to plan an arc where those cuckoo magic gods appear, so...maybe. It will get a lot more probable if I read the four novels I haven't gotten to yet. (I'm halfway through NT 11 at the time I'm writing this.)**

 **enigma95: Expect lots of chaos. Maybe a little bit of funny.**

 **AlternativeFutureFan27: Let us see how right you are, my friend. Let us see.**

 **But anyway; enough of this! We need to get to the story. Onward we go, to the first arc!**

 **Chapter 5: The Scarlet Devil Incident I**

* * *

 **Part I:** **The Scarlet Devil's Abode—** _ **Parameter_Check.**_

He releases a breath as Rumia flies off with another stick of his gum. Looking down into the packet, there's twenty pieces left.

 _So I have twenty days to figure out either advance my relationship to the point she doesn't want to eat me, or find something to use as a bargaining chip…_

He rules the former option out due to his abysmal luck. Knowing how his previous encounters with women have gone, he's certain she'll make an attempt at his life…and be the first and only person to succeed in taking it.

Well, technically she'd be the second one to succeed, but let's not get into that.

He turns on his heel as he fans himself with his left hand, squinting and perspiring in the noontime sun and wishing the bandages on his right hand could come off. Despite it being late November, it is unnaturally hot here in Gensoukyou. (Of course, having next to no knowledge about Gensoukyou, this information was obtained from Rinnosuke.)

Currently, on a continuation of Rinnosuke's quest from yesterday, he's getting to know the terrain and the surrounding area a bit better. He did get called an 'inconsolable idiot' by the man for attempting to contact the youkai when he somehow found his way back at sundown. He got let off easy, though, since he didn't know that he was considered a free meal and because he got back in one piece.

And so, the man told him to this time go and check out the Forest of Magic, the relatively safer area due to the existence of a certain Kirisame Marisa.

"He says that, but I think that just makes the forest that much more dangerous," Kamijou comments, shoving his left hand into his pocket as he embarks on his five-or-so minute walk to the Forest of Magic.

The humidity rises, making the atmosphere muggy and, by extension, uncomfortable. Incredibly uncomfortable, in fact, for the winter-uniform-clad teenager. He tied his blazer around his waist to make it more bearable, but the fact that both that blazer and his pants are black almost negates it. His upper body is somewhat cool in the very slight breeze rolling its way through the land, but his lower body is pretty much a furnace.

"Why does the temperature have to be so out-of-season today?"

He mutters a complaint at whatever being controls the weather and takes his first step under the canopy made by the Forest of Magic's trees.

He walks along the path that remains scorched from Marisa's relentless attempt at his life two days ago. Looking around, it seems the trees and brush along the path have similar signs of destruction as well.

 _I don't want to bother Marisa-san, but I guess it would be more efficient if I went to see her. No one better to act as a tourist guide than someone who lives here._

He says 'tourist' because that's what he's doing in essence: being a tourist. Seeing the sights of Gensoukyou, starting from the area around Kourindou and working his way outward.

Though he guesses it's more like a new homeowner getting familiar with the area around their home, rather than it just being seeing the sights.

Eventually, the girl's cozy home comes in sight. However, there's no way to tell if someone's home. The lack of electricity is something that will decidedly make things more difficult, what with him living in Academy City, the most technologically-advanced city in the world.

But this is not even to that extent. It was easy to tell if someone was home in the Outside World through cues like if the lights were on in the house, or if you could hear a television or radio playing inside. Even the sound of a vacuum or something similar.

Now, though, he has to rely on simply knocking on the door. Which, as Yakumo Yukari pointed out, is something he happens to forget is common courtesy on a daily basis.

However!

He will make that change! He will knock! For the sake of her privacy and his well-being, starting today!

He takes a decisive step forward. There is nothing that can stop him from eliminating this flaw in his character, all he needs to do is take this first step. Marisa's door shall be the first step in his journey to right himself!

While these firm steps are being taken, Kamijou feels a nagging in the back of his mind, something tugging at the edge of his conscious. But because of his focus on the task at hand, he disregards it.

 _Only three more steps!_

That faint tug becomes a full-on pull, ripping his attention from the unremarkable door to his right, towards a very remarkable blue laser.

 _When did—_

He cuts his train of thought off and raises his right hand, catching the laser full-on.

"!"

He suppresses a squeal because of the hellish pain in his hand. Not only is his sprain regressing to its former state, but he feels a strange burning sensation on his palm.

It's then he notices the burning bandages, the flames spreading out from there onto the rest of his hand.

"Hot, hot, hot!"

He grabs the knot he tied to secure it and hurriedly undoes it, letting it fall to the ground in all of its burning glory in the wake of the laser.

 _This one's a lot smaller than the last time, but I still can't fully negate it…_

While he may seem distressed from the tone of his thought, the fact brought to light in it is a cause for hope.

Because of the laser's smaller size, his whole hand blocks it, which means he can deflect it, or even sidestep it with ease.

Ruling out the latter option, he opts to deflect it above him and maneuvers his hand to accommodate the action, rotating his hand clockwise so that his fingers point downwards and lessening it from a ninety-degree angle to an angle that will allow him to deflect it upwards safely.

He hears the short squeal of surprise of the girl that undoubtedly is the one shooting the laser at him.

"Marisa! Stop shooting at this Kamijou-san!"

He doesn't hear her response over the buzzing of the laser, but eventually the laser stops and the girl looks at him, broom in hand.

"What was that for?!"

Kamijou, for understandable reasons, is outraged at the short blonde girl, but she seems to ignore him.

"I thought it was a fluke when I used Master Spark on you the other day, but Yukari was right, ze. That right hand _is_ weird." She puts her broom down at waist-level and mounts it, then pats the spot behind her. "Hop on, Kamijou."

He advances toward the broom but remains guarded. "What for? Where are we going?"

She grins at him. "Remember when I said we'd find a way to get you back?"

He nods slowly. "Yeah…have you found a way?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. Not at all. But we do know where to start."

He shudders as he mounts the broom as well. He doesn't know what she means, but he gets the feeling that it's not going to bode well for his health. "And what's the starting point, then?"

She knocks his right hand with her own. "That hand of yours."

 _Oh no…_

"Yep!" She seems to have read his mind. "We're about to study that thing, ze."

"…And who's 'we'?"

Her grin increases in size and menacing-ness. "Patchouli Knowledge."

Kamijou pales. Not because of the hundred-year-old magician, but because of where she's located. The name itself just makes him want to stay as far away from it as possible.

"We're headin' to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, ze!"

By this point, saying he doesn't like flying is redundant. But he says it anyway.

Marisa pats him on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it, ze."

"This Kamijou-san cannot agree with that." He stares down the gates and their napping gatekeeper and gulps. "You said that if I'm _lucky_ , only Patchouli will be testing me? Doesn't that mean that coming across the vampire owners is considered unlucky?" _And, knowing myself, guaranteed to happen?_

Marisa nods. "Remilia isn't so bad, but her sister is something else, ze." She chuckles. "Flandre…she's a good kid, but kinda cuckoo, ya know?" She twirls her finger around her temple.

She grabs him by the collar and he finds himself floating off of the ground again.

"O-Oi! What are you doing, Marisa!"

She shakes him a bit. "Shut up, will ya? China can get pretty freaky when she's actually doing her job, you know?"

He looks down at the napping gatekeeper and notes how she's getting farther and farther away.

She grunts as she lifts him up higher, towards the broom suspending them in the air. "Grab on. You're damn heavy, ze!"

He obliges, pulling himself fully onto the broom with (unfortunately) practiced movements from being jolted from his sitting position in his short stay in Gensoukyou and watches them cross over the gate and onto the property. "We're trespassing again…"

Kamijou says this and sighs, feeling misdemeanors piling up by the minute. If this goes on, he feels like the owners will lock him up in some dungeon or something to serve his sentence.

But there's another problem besides that: Marisa's not heading for the ground. You know, sure footing, not fighting a war against gravity? That place. Instead, she's flying straight at a metal door where a window normally be.

"Um, Marisa-san? Why aren't we using the front door this time?"

His tone may not seem like he's particularly bothered, but in actuality he's near-panicking. Even though they aren't falling, the height they were at reminded him of when his parachute malfunctioned at Tokyo Bay when he was falling from that private airliner.

He shudders as the traumatic memory surfaces and forces it down, instead focusing on the flapping side-braid on the blonde girl's hair in front of him.

As they slow in front of the door, the girl responds, "This takes us directly into the library, ze. Why go the long way when there's such an accessible shortcut here?"

He remains silent as he acknowledges her logic, but still feels uneasy nonetheless.

She nudges him with her elbow. "Could you open the door so we can get in, Kamijou?" She asks this with an unreadable tone to her voice.

 _Why does she sound so weird? What is she hiding?_

He reaches his hand to the door handle…

And hears a crashing sound.

He immediately draws his hand back and looks between the Imagine Breaker and the negated door handle. "What…?"

He turns to look at Marisa, who's looking at him with a questioning expression. "Marisa-san, my hand just negated something. What do you think it was?"

She frowns. "Probably something Patchouli set up to keep me out. Don't worry about it."

Kamijou's eyes widen questioningly. "'To keep you out', you say? How often do you show up here and what are you doing to make her put spells up to keep you out?"

She shrugs, disturbing her braid. "I come over to borrow books like, all the time, ze. Apparently she doesn't like it." She says this with a dismissive tone and looks down at the high school boy's right hand. "But seriously, what's up with that hand?" With her tone of voice and the volume, it seems more of a self-addressing wondering than a question addressed to him, so he doesn't answer. Instead he turns to the door again and carefully pulls it open.

He could see the tops of some of the bookshelves, yet most of the others still towered over that one. He wasn't sure if he was seeing halfway up one or only a fourth.

 _Is there any need for that many books? Ever?_

He ponders this as he looks for a way down. With entrances in places like these, there had to be a way to access it from the ground and to get down to it from the entrance. Something like a ladder.

However, there was no such instance of one. Not that he even thinks that there are ladders made that high; for a height like this a lift seems more plausible.

"Hey, Marisa-san. There's no—"

He stops himself. He remembers something the red-and-white shrine maiden, Hakurei Reimu told him on his first day in this land of illusions.

"Never mind. I forgot everyone except me can fly." With a sigh, he points out this fact that keeps him grounded here in Gensoukyou.

"Oh, so you're starting to get it, huh?"

Kamijou holds on to the broom as the girl takes them inside, slowly lowering them to the floor.

' _BANG'!_

The two of them dismount and look up at the door.

"Hm. Louder than I expected, ze," Marisa says without being bothered in the slightest about it closing on its own.

Kamijou voices this observation.

"Well, it's probably rigged to do that, anyway. It did the same thing when I left to come get you." She rests her broom on her shoulder and begins to walk through the aisles.

He raises an eyebrow and begins to follow. "Wait, you came from here?"

She nods. "I told you, Patchouli and I have a starting point. I've been here telling her what went down these last two days, and she's the one that suggested I bring you here, ze."

"Is that so…?"

She cups a hand by her mouth and takes a breath. "Oi, Patchouli! I brought him, ze!"

"Kya!"

' _Thump!'_

 _That didn't sound like that magician…the voice was too high-pitched…_

"Marisa-san, who was that? Someone who's going to be helping us?"

She scratches her cheek. "I guess she could act as the assistant…" She looks around the corner of a shelf and a look of recognition flashes across her face. "Kamijou, come here for a second."

He walks over to her and looks down to where the blonde is pointing.

On the ground covered in books is a…should he say very _voluptuous_ girl, appearing to be about his age with long red hair and similar-colored eyes. She's wearing a black dress with white sleeves and black thigh-high socks.

The thing that stands out the most on this girl, however, are the black wings protruding from the back of her head and her back.

"This girl is Koakuma, Patchouli's familiar, ze. She's a devil; probably a succubus or something with how she acts around boys. Don't be alone with her if you value your virginity."

Unlike most girls he knows, the devil girl shows no sign of embarrassment, shyness, or similar emotions. Only curiosity as she stares up at Kamijou.

In stark contrast to her hormone-spike-inducing figure, she has a very innocent face, making him wonder if she can really be a succubus. He doesn't know much about occult things, but he does know that succubae feed off of the male reproductive fluids…

The girl's eyes suddenly gain a mischievous light to them, and Kamijou gulps in response.

"Marisa-san…"

"I got it, I got it." The blonde begins to reach her hand under her skirt, much to the boy's shock, and pulls out a book. "Hey, Koakuma: thanks for showing me this book."

The devil straightens out, standing up to look down at the blonde. "Ah, no problem." She begins to pick up the books she dropped, eyes darting over to the sole male every few seconds. "What did you think of it?"

The blonde shuts her eyes and places a finger on her chin, the other hand drumming on the cover of the book that she's holding. "In a word: interesting, ze." She coughs as she grips the book with two hands. "However…"

' _Thump!'_

"Kyaa!"

The leather-bound book makes contact with a devil skull. "At least warn me that it has _those_ kinds of scenes before I read it! You're shaving away at my purity here!"

"It would be a stretch to call a kleptomaniac 'pure'."

Another party makes themselves known as they float out of an aisle.

"P-P-Patchouli-sama!"

"Hey there, Patchouli."

"Hello, Patchouli-san."

Koakuma, Marisa, and Kamijou greet the magician girl in their respective ways. The little devil as the flustered servant, Marisa with a tone like she's greeting an old friend, and the Imagine Breaker with a respectful tone.

Patchouli shoots a look Koakuma's way, and the devil scrambles to gather up the fallen books and scurries away with a respectful bow.

"Welcome back, Kamijou-san." The purple-haired girl nods towards him in acknowledgement, looking strange to him because of her slight bobbing due to what he guesses is levitation.

Kamijou mimics the gesture. "Thanks, Patchouli-san."

For whatever strange reason, there's a moment of silence as Patchouli seems to size the boy up, her gaze ending on his right hand. He can tell because when he noticed, he moved his hand a bit and her eyes follow the motion.

"Um, P—"

There's a clap. A loud clap, serving to break the silence and the two of them look at the source.

Marisa begins walking towards the aisle that the purplette floated out from. "Are you two just gonna keep staring at each other? Or are we going to get this parameter check underway?"

"Parameter…check?"

Patchouli follows along, propelling herself along with her levitation. "Yes. In short, we are going to be measuring the extent of the alleged abilities of your right hand. To quote Marisa's words this morning: 'That right hand cut my Master Spark like butter!' Is this true?"

Patchouli making that imitation of Marisa's voice would have been impressive, if not for the general flat tone that all of her speech seems to carry from what he's heard from her so far.

Kamijou brings up the rear of the group, the three heading deeper into the library. "It's true." Though Marisa's comparison is not one he thinks is correct.

She nods in an affirmative way. "Now, in your words, please describe what your hand is capable of." He hears a faint scribbling alongside his and Marisa's echoing footsteps. It seems Patchouli started writing something on a notepad at some point in their journey.

"Well, it's basically just the ability to negate all things supernatural."

Patchouli looks at him questioningly. "'Supernatural', though you know something like that upon sighting it, is a relative term. Wouldn't it be more accurate to say it negates everything you don't perceive as 'natural'?"

Kamijou mentally shrugs. "I guess. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Now then: details." She doesn't look up from her notepad. "Things like its effective range, if the effect spreads through your body at points, instances that can be considered exceptions to the rule, where it came from, and so on." After saying this, she peeks at him out of the corner of her eye, hand poised to begin writing the moment the boy discloses this information.

The spiky-haired teenager finds himself looking down at his hand, and then clenches it. "Well…"

He opens his mouth to speak, but notices a lack of a set of footsteps: Marisa's.

It sounds like she's disappeared, but she could just as well have stopped moving. The reason for it is a mystery, though.

He looks up, and sees Marisa has stopped her forward progress, the blonde looking intently at the level zero.

"What?" She asks this as she turns around fully to look at the two approaching teenagers. "I'm part of this too, ze! Doesn't it make sense for me to listen in, too?"

 _What is she getting defensive for?_ "I didn't eve—"

The magician girl waves it off. "Whatever, whatever! Just get back to answering those questions!"

He clears his throat. "Well, I can't say I have the answers to all of those questions, but I can give answers for the ones I do." He holds up his hand to be on eye-level with the witch and magician girl. "First off, the range of my ability only extends to whatever touches my right hand. Nothing outside of that range. It would be more convenient if the effect could spread through my body, but unfortunately it does not."

He allows Patchouli time to scribble down what he said. "There are some exceptions to its effects." He holds up a finger. "One: if the magic is too powerful, or has a continuous and replenishing source of energy, I won't be able to completely negate it."

"Ooh! So like with my Master Spark?"

He nods. "Yes, exactly like that."

Again, Patchouli scribbles in the notebook. "And what of its origins? Do you have any information on that?"

Kamijou shakes his head. "Not much, no. It's a mystery even to most of the higher powers in the Outside World." There are only two people he knows for a fact has information about the true nature of his right hand: the failed magic god Ollerus and the late member of God's Right Seat, Terra of the Left. Terra said something along the lines of him not using it at its full power, that it could possibly extend through his whole body, and that it could possibly be of divine origin.

He scratches his head as he gives them this information. He won't lie when he says he's just as in-the-dark as those two magician girls are.

Patchouli looks slightly disappointed that he has no information of the origins, but quickly gets over it. "Anything else? Perhaps a peculiar fact about it?"

"Well, believe it or not, my right hand seems to negate my luck."

He contemplated saying something about the invisible force that lives inside of him, as well as the dragons that also take residence in there, but decides against it. It wouldn't do them any good to know about it, anyway.

The first emergence of the invisible entity would be the fight against Fiamma of the Right of God's Right Seat during World War III. It must be pretty powerful if it made Fiamma look like he was ready to soil himself, but not completely ineffable since Othinus stomped it out like she was squashing an ant.

As for the dragons…well, there was an appearance of eight dragons during the Daihasei festival when the Railgun, Misaka Mikoto was being forced into the Level 6 Shift project.

Marisa looks as if she's trying to suppress a laugh, and Patchouli stops writing and raises an eyebrow. "Your luck?"

Again he nods. "Yeah…" He hangs his head. "Because of that, you could call me the unluckiest person alive."

"Are you sure you're not just imagining it," Patchouli asks.

"Positive. No one can naturally be this unfortunate."

Kamijou feels the urge to cry saying these words, but suppresses them. There's no point in it, anyway; he's long since resigned himself to it.

Finally, after exiting the rows upon rows of books, they reach their destination: a wooden desk covered in papers and ancient-looking tomes.

On the ground a meter-and-a-half from the desk is a painted white 'X'.

"Kamijou-san, please stand on that X there."

Patchouli asks this of him as she walks to her desk and takes a seat at it while Marisa takes a stand a few meters on the right of the letter.

"Okay." He moves onto the symbol and awaits instruction. It's obvious that she wants something of him. "So what do you want me to do?"

She points to Marisa just as a weird humming noise starts coming from that direction, so she turns to face her. "Hmm?"

Marisa stands there in a stance synonymous with firing lasers from the hands: wide base, hands cupped by the hip. Suspended between the hands is a glowing, growing light blue orb.

"Oh no."

"We need you to block this, Kamijou! For research purposes!"

The blonde magician yells this over the ever-growing hum of the laser, and then releases the beam with a loud "Haa!"

Kamijou groans and holds up his hand, using his left for support since the sprain is likely to get worse than it is now. For some reason, all of this girl's lasers are absurdly powerful.

But perhaps that's to be expected. It would be more disappointing if a laser attack was pathetically weak.

"GAH!"

Even though he knew that the pain was going to be something demonic, he can't get used to it. At this rate the sprain will be so bad that it'll cause permanent damage to his tendons, muscles, and nerves. At least the laser is much smaller than the first one. Although it is bigger than the one he received this morning.

He grits his teeth and strains against the laser. Since it's bigger, his whole hand doesn't block it, meaning he can't deflect it away like he normally would. He's going to have to settle at either pushing forward and making Marisa stop, or dodge out of the way and risk damage to the library.

He looks over to Patchouli, who is wearing red under-rimmed glasses and looking intently at the scene, recording her observations all the while. Then he looks to Marisa's gleeful face as she's making him suffer.

 _As much I want to dodge this…I can't let the library get damaged. These two are doing this for my sake; I can't stop this because I'm in a little pain!_

And with these words to himself, he grits his teeth even harder and tries to distract himself from the pain by looking at the titles of the books in the aisle beside him.

' _Methods of Breast Enlargement.'_

Two images pop into his head.

One is of his almost vulgarly busty classmate Fukiyose Seiri, also known as the 'Iron Wall Girl' because, according to his friends Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Aogami Pierce, she's the only girl in his class not affected by his 'charms'. Which is a wholly inaccurate statement, since the only girl he knows is truly in love with him is his freeloader Index.

The other is of the leader of the magic cabal Dawn-Colored Sunlight, Leivinia Birdway. Girls normally start hitting puberty at eight years old; she shows no sign of having reached that point, despite being twelve-years-old. Flat as a board, through and through.

 _Maybe I should get that book for her…_

He looks forward at the teen assailing him. _Wouldn't be any harm in Marisa reading it, either._

The laser dies down and Kamijou releases a breath of pure relief.

"Good thing ya have good reaction time, Kamijou. Otherwise you'd be flattened up against that wall there, ze."

Marisa makes this comment with a wide grin on her face.

His eye twitches a bit at the absurdity, but before he can say anything to her he hears a deliberate knocking on the witch's desk.

He turns towards this other disturbance, hoping that the witch isn't going to shoot anything at him like her blonde-haired partner.

"Kamijou-san, could you describe to me what you feel when you disrupt an attack that can't be negated, like Marisa's laser?"

"Well," his thoughts go to his almost-unbearably aching hand, but he dismisses specifics like the pain and proceeds to give out generalities. "If I can't negate it, I will feel resistance on my hand. It's normally barely any resistance, but if I don't have my hand in the right position it could cause some damage to my hand."

"Like it did just then?"

 _She must have noticed my squeal…_

"No, not then. I was already hurt. It was the first beam she shot at me that injured me. The…umm…" He's trying to remember what she called it. "Supreme flash?"

" _Master Spark_. Do I need to show ya again to help ya remember?" Marisa corrects him sternly, brandishing her hakkero from under her skirt.

Kamijou shakes his head vigorously. "P-please, Marisa-chan, don't hit me with that massive laser again! You might tear off this Kamijou-san's arm the next time!"

Marisa grins and puts the Hakkero away.

He lets out a sigh of relief and continues. "The Master Spark is what injured me; this one just aggravated it."

"Next test, then," Patchouli says as she stands up and walks around her desk, coming to a stop in front of Kamijou. "We're going to see if spells with full-body effects will be negated."

"Okay…but will it cause me any harm?"

The girl shakes her head, making her purple hair sway along with her gown. "No, this spell has no adverse effects. Really, it's a pointless spell without any kind of real purpose." She looks at Marisa. "This is a spell that falls more into your expertise, Marisa."

She points to herself. "My expertise? A light or heat spell, then, right?"

"Exactly. Now relax, Kamijou-san. This won't hurt at all."

She holds her hand out in front of her, almost touching his chest, and starts to mutter incredibly fast and incomprehensibly, with her hand glowing with yellow light in response.

"Whoa…you're glowin', ze!"

"Eh? I am?"

Kamijou looks at his body and sees that he is, in fact, glowing, starting from his torso and working its way throughout the rest of his body.

Which means it came as no surprise that it disappeared when it reached his right hand.

"Ah…"

Without a word, Patchouli returns to her desk and resumes her writing. "Alright, Kamijou-san. Give me some time to form a hypothesis. Take Marisa with you and go look around the library or something."

She says this with a sense of finality, so much so that Marisa can't seem to find room to argue.

"Well then…let's go, Kamijou."

Marisa leans her broom up against the wall behind her and motions to him. "Well, any books ya wanna look at?"

The first book that comes to mind is the most recent one he saw: the one about breast enlargement.

 _Maybe I can read some of it and teach it to Misaka or Birdway when I get back. That would make them happy, right?_

With this thought in mind, he makes a beeline for it. "Ah, yeah. I'm going to go over here, okay?"

She shrugs. "Okay." Then Kamijou gets his line of sight filled with the book in question, opening up to a random page.

' _Method #14: Breast massages.'_

He looks dissatisfiedly at this. The rumor that breasts grow if they're massaged is so common that he'd be surprised if those two haven't tried it.

 _Let's try a more obscure method…_

He flips a bit deeper in the book, skipping over more common methods and finally landing on something that fits what he desires.

' _Method #26: Breast-enlargement herbs.'_

 _Now this might help them out._

He takes in the list of alleged breast-enlarging herbs, it including plants like saw palmetto, wild yam, and kava. He wonders if the first and the last are from the tropics.

"Whatcha readin'?"

Kamijou lets out a pathetic-sounding shriek as he steps back and turns, facing the girl that startled him.

"D-damn it, Marisa-san! Don't startle me like that!"

She rubs the back of her head and chuckles. "Sorry, sorry. But really; whatcha readin'?"

Reluctantly, the boy closes the book and shows her the cover.

"' _Methods of Breast Enlargement'_ , huh? What business do ya have readin' this?" She looks warily at him. "Ya sure you're not some kind of pervert?"

"NO! I'm not a pervert! I just know it wouldn't hurt for certain people to know what's in here." He hurriedly puts the book back on the shelf and glances at Marisa, hoping what he said disarmed her suspicions.

No such luck. After all, this is _him_. The one who's hand negates the blessings of god, aka 'luck'.

Suspended in the blonde magician's hand is a glowing yellow star. "Ya know, that ability of yours is really troublesome, ze. Being able to negate without question…but it has its limits, right? It only works if you can hit it."

"What? Why are you mad at me?"

This seems to heat her up even more, as she dispels the star and pulls out the hakkero. " _Why am I mad?!_ You were obviously mocking me! I didn't choose to be this small, ze!"

"What? I didn't eve—"

" _Run._ Run now or I will kill you."

Needless to say, he takes her advice.

"Such misfortune!"

He gets out of the aisle and makes a hard left just as a barrage of lasers burst down the aisles.

 _Why is she so insanely powerful?! She's gonna destroy the library!_

He thinks this as he continues to run, evading some of the lasers fired at him and deflecting others, to which his wrist screams in agony. And despite all of his twisting and turning, she still manages to keep up with him and make this whole endeavor longer and more painful than necessary.

 _Come on, hasn't this been going on for too long? Isn't there some way I can g—_

"Gah!"

Something hits him in the back. _Hard._ Next thing he knows he's airborne, but thankfully the only thing he can plausibly hit is the ground.

Keeping his cool, he begins to curl up and tuck so he can take the least amount of damage possible…

But then a little girl with black bat wings comes out of an aisle, so entranced by the book she's reading that she hasn't noticed the disturbance going on for the past few minutes.

"Oi! Get out of the way!"

The girl sluggishly looks up, peeking up at him from under her mob cap…

And her red eyes widen in shock.

"Ah…"

 _Thump!_

"Kya!"

"Ow…"

Kamijou groans because there's no single sound that can express the pain in his wrist. Again, he landed directly on it, pretty much guaranteeing that he won't be healing any time soon.

He opens his eyes and finds nothing. Nothing but darkness and a nice, feminine smell.

"H-huh?" He raises his head and feels fabric rustle on his spiky hair.

 _Oh no._

He hurriedly pulls his head out and finds that the place where his head was…well, if he were in Academy City, he'd definitely be locked up. He doesn't want to imagine what would happen to him here.

He tries to save himself and prostrates himself, since he's already on the ground.

"My deepest apologies, young lady! I had none of the ill intentions you are probably thinking of right now; it was an accident!"

There's no response for a long while. Even Marisa seems to have stopped her assault to marvel at this unfortunate event. Or perhaps it's because of the menacing aura being projected by the little girl on the ground in front of him.

He peers upward at the girl to check on her, and sees her staring daggers at him from a sitting position, covering her body with her large wings.

"Koakuma." The voice, despite its youth, was deathly cold as she called out the succubus servant's name.

"Y-yes!" The succubus sounds outright terrified, emerging shakily from another alleyway carrying a pile of books.

For the sake of it, he looks back at Marisa to see if he should be as afraid as Koakuma is and wow, he should be afraid. For Marisa is making a look of uneasiness that doesn't seem fitting for her.

And then he remembers one thing that Marisa and Reimu told him as they escorted him to the Scarlet Devil Mansion two days ago: this mansion is home to two vampires.

This must be one of them. He has no clue which one—Marisa didn't describe them at all, but he does know that he should be praying.

"Destroy him."

* * *

 **A/N: Hide your kids, hide you wife, and hide your lolis. Especially your lolis, because Touma's a-comin'.**

 **So yeah. Part one of the Scarlet Devil Incident, done, with Touma's trademark misfortune and perverted accidents. The chaos gets even more chaotic next, with possible appearances by a certain perfect and elegant maid and scarlet sister, so stay tuned.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you guys later.**


	6. The Scarlet Devil Incident II

**A/N: Well, here's another one. Sheesh. How will Kamijou pull himself back up from faceplanting in a loli's vagina? It's about time we found out.**

 **But first, reviews (thanks for these by the way):**

 **Guest4345995: We need more reviews like yours. Thanks for the critique. Upon reading your review, I did a bit of revising on last chapter to deal with that. Mainly him leaving out the whole part about the dragons and such. I wonder if that's a satisfactory change... And yeah, I guess it is moving a bit fast...I don't know what to say about that. Maybe I'll throw in some slice of life chapters and stuff to show his interaction with the characters or something. Don't get your hopes up though.**

 **Guest (#1): Remilia's pissed because Touma got a face full of her. She does not like that. At all. I'm guessing mostly because it's a foreign sensation to her or something.**

 **Guest (#2): Sorry that I missed you. This story probably won't hit the Mature rating in the foreseeable future, so I went on and pulled out the Mature content advisory from the summary.**

 **AlternativeFutureFan27: I laughed too hard imagining Aogami going haywire at that ultra-specific fetish.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Congratulations on reaching 1M words in A Certain Unknown Level 0. Fanfiction goals.  
But anyway, thanks for the review. I'm glad you're enjoying this. I had actually started writing this because the worlds meshed together so well in my head, so I thought I'd give putting it into words a shot. Glad to know we're like-minded in how well these franchises seem to fit.**

 **enigma95: For whatever reason, I cracked up when I read your review. It seems laughter is infectious, just like smiles.**

 **Guest (#3): Yes, how will he stupid himself out of this indeed.**

 **That being addressed, let's get started. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident II**

* * *

 **Part II: Sister of the Devil—** _ **Lethal_Playmate.**_

To recap: Kamijou had just been dragged to the Scarlet Devil Mansion by Marisa in order to get some answers about his right hand's interference with the Gap Youkai Yakumo Yukari's powers, and to come up with a way for him to get home. That required fierce interrogation and experimentation (think lasers, lots of lasers), which he was not too happy about going through, but he has to return to his home and freeloaders one way or another. The magicians Patchouli Knowledge (species) and Kirisame Marisa (occupation) have been the first to come up with any kind of starting point, so he has to go along with them in that regard.

Knowing Kamijou, however, a misunderstanding was bound to rear its ugly head at one point or another, as shown by Marisa shooting wave after wave of magical projectiles at him after yelling something about it 'not being her fault that she was small'.

To make matters worse, she managed to get a hit in on him and sent him flying into a young girl with large bat wings, with Kamijou landing pretty much face-first under her dress.

Which brings us to the present time.

"Koakuma."

The vampire girl calls upon the servant as she stares at Kamijou with blood-red eyes, her face flushed to almost match the shade of them. Around her body she's wrapped her wings, trying to hide as much of herself as possible from the boy she almost certainly sees in a lecherous light.

"Y-yes!" The succubus steps out from a row of books behind the vampire, shaking like a branch in a stiff breeze and clutching her stack of books against her as if it were a lifeline.

Similarly, Marisa behind him is also standing some ways back with a look of pure uneasiness Kamijou doesn't think fits her in the slightest with the impression he's earned of her in his three days in Gensoukyou.

"Destroy him."

Kamijou, who had been looking at the vampire from a prostrated position, scrambles to his feet and immediately looks between the master and servant, and sees that the succubus is just as shocked as he is about the absurd command.

However, despite the order issued, the devil fidgets behind the vampire, looking very hesitant to move.

The vampire grits her teeth and stands up abruptly upon noticing that the girl isn't moving, turning to look up at the devil and causing her to shrink away from her with a whimper.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Her high-pitched, youthful voice is filled with a dominating presence, terrifying everyone present even further.

"B-but, Remilia-sama…what if it goes against Patchouli-sama's wishes?" The servant looks truly torn over what to do: listen to Remilia or stay true to her master. He assumes that the two of them have equal or near-equal standing in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's hierarchy since they can split her like that.

The vampire grips the sides of her light-pink dress and visibly shakes, looking to the scared servant and the almost equally-scared Outsider in turn, then forces out, "I'll deal with that later. You take care of him _now_."

The turmoil that was present behind Koakuma's eyes alleviates visibly, as she's able to steel herself somewhat and put down her books without dropping them.

"Um, Marisa-san? What should I do?" Kamijou asks this as he looks back at Marisa for a brief second. And, much to his surprise, the blonde magician has readied herself in a confrontational pose and is facing Koakuma and Remilia.

"Nothing! Just run! I'll try ta beat some reason into them, ze!"

He takes a few steps back and focuses on Marisa that he's now standing parallel to. "What about you, then?"

"You don't have to worry about lil' ol' me, ze. They can't hurt me because I live here. You," she tips her hat down and pulls out three round glass containers full of bluish liquid, holding one in each space between the fingers by their necks. "are fair game. No one can punish 'em if they hurt you."

Kamijou feels a bead of nervous sweat roll down his face. He happened to forget what the loner girl from that bamboo forest said about Outsiders not being protected by the spell card rules or something like that.

 _How could I forget such life-saving information like that?!_

Kamijou mentally facepalms as he looks at the unmoving little devil, staring at the two of them from a ways behind the vampire. He makes eye contact with her for a brief moment, and notices a lack of the uneasiness that was present mere moments ago.

Then she shows a small smile and beckons to Kamijou with her finger.

 _What is she…huh?!_

Suddenly, without moving, Koakuma slowly but surely gets closer.

"Huh?"

He tries to take a step back, but instead the speed that she gets closer accelerates.

"Oi, Kamijou! When I said run, I didn't mean toward them, ze! Do you wanna die?"

He looks down and sees his legs moving on their own, towards the girl and the vampire in front of him.

 _What is this? Is this one of their magic?_

To test it out, he brings his right hand down to his leg and…

' _CRASH!'_

He regains control of his legs.

But since he had no conscious recognition of his legs until that moment, there is only one logical way this can turn out.

He tumbles to the ground, letting out a garbled noise as he hits face-first and his feet nearly touch the back of his head.

"Ow ow ow!" He brings his hands up immediately to his now-aching face after straightening out, but wastes no time on the ground as he pushes himself up.

"My apologies."

Out of nowhere came this obviously-not-sorry voice. And it was frighteningly close.

He feels cool hands clasp his face on either side of his head, and he tries to pull away in response, only for the grip to get tighter and force his head down and to look forward, towards his assailant—the little devil.

The two of them are nearly nose-to-nose, and he can smell the rosy scent of her hair and a sweet smell on her breath. In situations other than this hostile one, perhaps Kamijou would be happy about being this close to the alluring female. But as of now, all this means is danger. He needs to get away as soon as possible, lest some kind of terrible magic effect is cast on him.

 _This girl is probably a succubus, according to Marisa, which means she would use some kind of magic that appeals to a male libido or something like obstruction of reason._

Perhaps it's not unlike the distraction provided by the revealing clothes of Oriana Thomson from the Daihasei Festival.

And following that path of logic, there's only one thing this girl would do in bringing his face this close to her own: kiss him. Whether it would be a distraction to incapacitate him or an application of magic, he doesn't know, but he cannot let that happen.

 _Sorry about this…!_

He draws his head back, forcing himself against the vice grip of the girl's hands and throws his head forward, with his hard head connecting with the crown of her own with a dull thud.

She lets loose a squeal and her grip slackens just enough that he's able to wrest himself out of it and begin his escape, running hard at the row between the bookshelves to his left without looking back.

"Huff…huff…"

He hears the sounds of combat behind him between Marisa and Remilia, which involved a lot of magical sounds that wouldn't sound to out of place in an RPG. There's absolutely no regard for state of the library from what he can hear and the rumbling he feels in his feet.

But something that begs more attention than the magic fight behind him are the footsteps. The footsteps that are getting louder and louder as time goes on, despite him running at full speed.

He risks a peek back and sees none other than Koakuma gaining on him, running with a demeanor that makes it seem that this amount of speed is nothing to her.

 _Damn!_

He makes a sharp turn right and then left into another aisle while still going in the direction of where he remembers the entrance to the library is. Though even if he remembered wrong, the doors _are_ huge, so finding them shouldn't be that much of a problem.

He didn't expect that simple maneuver to fool her, so he wasn't surprised to hear the footsteps closing in again. In this narrow book-lined corridor he'll be captured without a problem.

However, in an open space like the one only a few steps ahead, he has somewhat of a chance despite the succubus' apparent speed.

He looks behind himself to see the female in question within arm's reach.

 _Shit! I won't be able to get out before she catches me!_

He wracks his brain to think of some way to ensure he doesn't get caught here and comes up with an idea. A risky one, sure, but it's a risk he can live with.

He lowers his center of gravity and moves to plant his foot.

He twists around to face Koakuma.

Yes, what he plans to do is ram her. On one hand, he could hit her square in her stomach or diaphragm, and have her discombobulated enough to proceed on the next leg of his escape from the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

On the flipside, though, she could anticipate it and catch him. Which would not end well for him at all, especially with the malicious nature of the command the vampire issued.

He lowers his shoulder and prepares to use his right foot to reverse his motion and ram her…

But before he can do that, she launches herself towards him.

"Hah?!"

She launches herself in a flying tackle, and he doesn't have the time nor space to move out of the way or even meet her, as he feels the air leave his lungs and the two of them tumble in a tornado of bodies.

"Gasp…"

He lies there with his eyes shut, clasping his wrist to try and mitigate the pain and trying to retrieve the air that was forcefully expelled from him.

He hears similar gasping coming from an area extremely close to him, though not as labored. Without a doubt, that is his assailant.

He opens his eyes and sees the girl above him, her chest in his direct field of vision. Despite what seemed to be superior stamina and speed, if he cranes his head he can see her pained expression.

 _Was she faking that superiority? If that's the case, then she must have been pushing herself extremely hard._

He finds the fact that she pushed her limits to capture him admirable, to the point that he finds himself wanting to let her win, but he shakes that feeling off. She's still an enemy with orders to 'destroy him', after all, and there's no reason for her to try and twist the order to save him. They've only just met, after all.

To think someone whom he met on friendly terms would become an enemy in such a short time…that's his (lack of) luck for you.

 _Such misfortune…_

Having managed to get most of his breath back, he spares some of it on a sigh.

That's when the unbelievably sweet smell hits his nostrils.

 _W-what is this?! Perfume?! It's way too strong!_

He doesn't think this in this manner because it's unpleasant; it's actually the opposite. Only criminally so.

There is no substance that this can be compared to in its sweetness, but he can imagine that it wouldn't be too far off from a cupcake with sugary sugar-flavored icing covered in sugar sprinkles and a sugary syrup laced with sugary sugar crystals. [1]

His eyes start to water and saliva collects in his mouth, so he swallows and blinks to try and halt the collection of fluid, but to no avail. That only seems to make it stronger.

"Gh…"

He feels his other senses start to recede. His vision begins to blur, he can feel himself start to go numb, and the sounds of the fight going on deeper in the library are beginning to fade. The aroma is even starting to overpower his thoughts, throwing an obstruction on the tracks of his train of thought.

 _Ah…_

The drowning out of the sounds of the fight are now replaced a pleasant buzzing sound, and a similar pleasant vibration is reverberating through his body, getting stronger with each wave.

There's a disturbance from the girl he almost forgot was on top of him, despite her probably being the reason he's in this state.

He forces himself to focus on the object in his vision…

…and sees the seductively smiling face of Koakuma looking down at him.

Normally, this would send Kamijou's senses into high alert, but as he is now he couldn't care less.

"…"

She moves her glistening lips, saying something that went unheard to the boy.

Her face moves closer and she opens her mouth slightly…

"To think that you would be so much more dangerous while fighting a male…as I expected of my succubus servant."

The girl's eyes widen in shock as she hears the voice, losing the seductive air she had about her so quickly that (if Kamijou were capable of something other than simple thought) he doubts that that was really the same girl.

"Gbh?!"

The little devil flies off of him, courtesy of a clump of dense earth flying in from the voice's direction.

"However, as impressed as I am…"

A silhouette with long purple hair leans into his field of vision.

"…I don't recall telling you to attack this boy. You ought to prepare yourself for some punishment later."

As a pathetic-sounding groan sounds off from a ways to his right, Kamijou's mind registers whose voice it is.

"Pa-Patchou…li…?"

She looks down at him, still wearing her reading glasses. "I swear, that girl is needlessly powerful and motivated near males. You're lucky she's only a lesser demon; otherwise you would have been nothing but a mummy by the time I arrived." She leans down slightly, looking hard at him. "Now, wait just a moment."

She takes a deep breath, holds a hand down, then begins to mutter at hyperspeed.

A few moments after a teal light begins to envelop his vision, his mind returns.

 _A-ah…she's fixing me…_

This fact was stated and was undeniable in its nature, but in essence this should be impossible. Healing spells normally end up spreading through his whole body, so once it reaches the Imagine Breaker that is his right hand, the effect should be reduced to null.

This was an uncontested truth, so how was this happening?

Kamijou, after a few more seconds of his mind clearing, he realizes this fact and tries to speak out of his still-numb mouth.

"P-Patchouli-san…how are you…?"

She coughs lightly and says, "I'm using a more advanced healing spell to target specific areas of your body, since basic healing spells will spread through the body. Once the effect spreads to your right hand it will be negated, as we saw earlier, so I have no choice but to use this."

He swallows and nods in affirmation. "T-thank you, then." He works out his mouth, since he can feel it gradually getting sensation back along with the rest of his body.

"Don't mention it." Patchouli accepts the thanks with a nod and a curt reply. "Now, once I'm done, get out of here. We can't risk Remi seeing you; you aggravated Remi enough that I wouldn't be surprised if she kills you on sight." She pulls away, the light that was glowing from her outstretched hand dissipating. "I must say, you've piqued my interest. Just what did you do to make her so angry?"

Kamijou looks at the pajama-clad girl and ponders with a troubled expression whether he should tell her. He feels like he'll look at him like a lecher, and he's already angered Marisa and Remilia (though Marisa seems to be over it by now, having jumped at the call to help him like she wasn't attempting to cause him physical harm just moments before), and he has no intention on adding the magician to the list.

"All I can tell you is that it was an unfortunate accident. What happened to make that little vampire so angry was not performed of this Kamijou-san's volition."

He says this sullenly as he pushes himself up onto shaky legs and looks at the trembling heap that is Koakuma. It seems she's shaking not because of shock from the sudden attack from her master, but by the mere presence of her. If he listens closely, he hears her mumbling "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it" in a pathetically panicked tone, invoking pity in the boy.

However, he cannot afford to worry about her; while she will only be punished for insubordination (assuming Remilia doesn't keep her promise of 'dealing with' Patchouli), Kamijou might actually die. Koakuma is in no explicit danger from the magician that rescued him, so he's free to focus on himself.

And so: he asks a question.

"Patchouli-san, how do I get out of this mansion?"

He came here with Marisa and Reimu back when he first arrived in Gensoukyou, but he couldn't focus too much on the path out because, well, he was busy screaming and holding on for his life. So he's asking for directions just to make sure his general idea is correct.

Patchouli clutches her book closer to her. "The path back is pretty much linear. Just walk from here until you reach what you cannot mistake for anything other than a front door."

He bows slightly in thanks. "Got it." _Although that_ was _pretty vague…_

Kamijou turns around and opens the door out of the library, but before he can exit he's stopped at the mention of his name.

He turns back to Patchouli. "Yes, Patchouli-san?"

"Try not to be seen. In the event Remilia gets out of here, she'll likely send that maid after you. If she finds you, your life is forfeit."

He feels a bead of sweat roll down his face as he hears the frightening implications of this singular maid. "A single maid…just who is she?"

Patchouli turns around, facing the ongoing battle of the vampire and Marisa. "Someone you don't want to cross, no matter what. I don't think your right hand would even matter against her."

* * *

Angry Remilia is a scary Remilia.

This fact has since been solidified in Marisa's mind.

Truly, she had never seen that girl so angry before. Though she guesses it's justified. It would be an understatement to say that Marisa would be pissed if someone faceplanted into her vagina.

 _Dammit, Kamijou! Why did ya have to land there, of all places?!_

But never mind that: with the vampire's new level of anger comes a new level of fighting ability.

 _S-shit! She was nothing like this during the Scarlet Mist Incident…_

The enormous, glowing red lance in the vampire's hand is the production of her spell card: Divine Spear "Spear the Gungnir".

Marisa has but one spell that can match that insane destructiveness, and she has no choice but to use it here.

She cups her hands by her side in preparation. Using her hakkero to produce the attack is impossible since that amount of power will cause it to overheat, so she has to produce and direct the magic all from her own body.

She mutters a prayer for the library's safety and takes a deep breath.

 _Magicannon…_

Energy starts to collect in her palms and it glows so bright that it starts to intrude on her vision out of her peripheral. Meanwhile, Remilia tenses up, ready to hurl the lance at her.

"Final Spark!"

She forces her arms along with the ball of energy forward, uncupping her hands so that the energy is released in only one direction: forward.

Meanwhile, Remilia throws the lance, it moving at nightmarish speed to meet with the laser blocking its way and its target, the blonde-haired magician.

However…

"Pa-Patchouli?!"

"Pache?!"

The purple magician floated in between the two massive attacks calmly, wearing a face full of her cold fury.

She uttered but two words.

"Sunshine Reflector." [2]

It need not be said who emerged victorious in that exchange.

* * *

Kamijou advances in a straight line after having left the library, staying true to Patchouli's vague directions, and he continues to do so for an indefinite amount of time.

 _Hey, isn't this way longer than what I remember?_

The boy's hectic memory of this corridor stretches not nearly as long as the time that has just passed. In fact, as he looks at the corridor itself, he sees that, while he's moved a long ways away from the door of the library, the end of the corridor looks to have only gotten farther away.

Instead of panicking like people unaccustomed to situations like these would, he thinks back first to something the shrine maiden and black-and-white magician told him two days prior.

" _One: it's_ way _bigger inside than it is outside."_

He also thinks back to his inference based on that fact.

' _And it's bigger inside than it is outside? Spatial distortion [magic] or something similar must be at play here.'_

He turns to the walls and the floors, looking for any possible source of a spell or something to that effect, and finds nothing of the sort. Just the fancy embroidered rug and chandelier-supporting ceiling.

Kamijou, seeing no definite way out of this, decides to backtrack to a corridor intersecting with the one he's in. He's not sure if it will work, but it seems to him that this one is locked down, so that's the only choice he has.

Well, in truth, he could also go back into the library, but in all honesty he'd rather not get obliterated at the hands of a furious vampire. Or at all, for that matter.

He takes his school uniform's blazer off of his waist and reties it, since it got loosened from everything that went down in the library, and turns around to walk back to that branch corridor. He hopes the magic's effects don't work both ways for his sake and for anyone that happens to come across him, since there's a sense of familiarity in this situation, and it's not the good kind. It's likely Othinus threw him into a world of infinite distance while he was fighting her.

As he backtracks, his face lights up as he can definitely see the distance decreasing from him to his destination. And in order to lessen the chances of the effect going both ways before he gets there, he quickens his pace.

Kamijou gets there without problems.

The hallway he walked into is much narrower than the grand one he just came from, and is very sparsely lit. It's dim enough that he has to strain his eyes to see part of the way forward.

Regardless, he walks. He can see the distance decreasing from his position to the end of the hallway, so this is an immediate plus in comparison to that corridor he just came from.

 _Now, from this hallway, in order to get back to the main path of that other corridor, I'll have to take two right turns: once when I get to the end of this one, and then at the end of the one I turn on to._

With this plan in mind, he quickens his pace to reach his destination and his salvation.

* * *

The sounds of the fight between Marisa and Remilia stopped suddenly, shortly after Patchouli herself went back there with a furious look on her face.

' _They must have almost damaged her books,'_ Koakuma thinks as she pushes herself off of the floor and brushes off of her clothes.

Koakuma, though it would probably appear otherwise to Kamijou, is not a very physically adept individual. She can fake it well enough, but eventually she's going to have to stop to recover. The fact that that boy could run so fast for so long makes her wonder if he had experience in running from people in the Outside World.

 _If that's true, then his life is a pitiable one indeed._

She took that desperate dive at him to take him to the ground so she could take that time during the confusion to rest and plan out what she needed to do next to ensure he could not struggle too much.

That's why she released those pheromones to blur the senses of the boy. That served as a preliminary step to draining the life energy of him with a kiss. If she could drain just enough, she could render him unconscious without any lasting effects and carry out her goal.

No, not Remilia's goal.

 _Hers_.

Remilia likely desires the head of that boy on a platter for a simple mistake. While the place that he landed could hardly be reacted to in a dismissive manner, that vampire is taking it over the top.

When she told Koakuma to destroy him, she had an external display of shock while inside she was simply incredulous at the overreaction.

 _Really, despite her being half a millennium old, she is still just like a kid._

So Koakuma made a bold decision.

She decided to save him.

She would have carried out her orders dutifully if Kamijou had done _that_ on purpose, but since it was an accident he has absolutely no right to die.

She was hoping that she'd be able to render him unconscious with that kiss and get him out of the mansion then lie and say he got away, but with the appearance of her mistress and the clump of _very_ hard dirt she sent her way, that plan has gone out of the window.

Or rather, the first part of it has. The goal is just to get him out of the mansion alive and relatively unharmed. It's not the means that matter; it's the end.

 _There is_ one _resource I can use to my advantage._

She moves as quietly as she can and opens the door, slipping out silently and rushing to the main hallway.

In this hallway, around five fairy maids are present, performing duties like cleaning the windows, polishing the floors, and dusting the paintings.

Among these five maids is one particularly dedicated and trustworthy one, shown by her being chosen along with two other maids to accompany Remilia and Izayoi Sakuya to the moon some time ago. [3]

This fairy's name is Abby Stoic, and, as her name suggests, she's the fairy of stoicism. Peculiarly for fairies as a whole but common for fairy maids, she has an adult figure and stands at the same height as the little devil. She has mid-back length black hair and purple eyes covered with glasses and a pair of four-pronged wings. She looks up as Koakuma arrives.

"Ah, Koakuma-san. Do you need something?" Her voice is near-monotonous as she asks this question, true to her nature as a fairy of stoicism.

"Yes. I need a favor."

The fairy vibrates her wings and stares at her expectantly, signaling for her to continue.

"There's a boy with spiky black hair and blue eyes wearing Outsider clothing running around the mansion somewhere. I would appreciate it if you could mobilize some of the fairies to find him and bring him to the front entrance." Koakuma bows slightly as she requests this, as she's sure that the fairy is aware that this will be interfering with her duties and may be reacted to with strict disciplinary actions if she is caught. While Koakuma would like to keep the risk of punishment to herself, she realizes that she cannot do this on her own.

She desperately needs Abby's help. She won't be able to sleep if she lets someone die for a stupid reason like that, especially if she could do something to prevent it.

Abby sighs. "I'll take care of it. I take it you'll be waiting for him at the entrance?"

Koakuma nods in affirmation.

"Okay." She turns to the other four maids, who have stopped their jobs and looked at their leader figure. "You all heard what she said. You two," she points to the two holding feather dusters, "Go and tell Caitlyn and Emily what you heard here, then start searching." She then turns to the other two. "And you two, split up and start searching as well."

They all fly off to carry out their duties, which leaves Abby Stoic and Koakuma at the site.

"Tell me, devil," Abby speaks as she watches the fairies fly off. "What are you going to do after we bring him to you?"

"I'm going to let him out." Koakuma says this without hesitation. "Remilia-sama wants his head for something…insubstantial," she stops herself from saying 'petty' to avoid being disrespectful, "and I simply can't allow a person to die for something like that."

The only sign of emotion in the fairy is the glimmer of amusement in her eyes. "My, such nobility for a devil."

However, her eyes revert to their default serious not even a second later. "But our job is to carry out our mistress's orders to the height of her expectations. Not only are you failing to carry out her orders: you are acting in opposition to them. You do know what that entails, right?"

"Of course I do. But I'll be holy if I let someone die for a stupid reason." [4] Koakuma looks hard at Abby. "Are you certain you want to be helping me?"

She scoffs, as if this were a stupid question. "I wouldn't be helping you if I didn't. And besides; now that I know what's happening, do you really think I would stand by and let this go on?"

The little devil's eyes light up and she pulls Abby into a hug. "Thank you, Abby!"

Her face betrays no emotion, but she hugs her back awkwardly. "Don't mention it." She squirms uncomfortably in the devil's grip. "Could you let go, though? You're crushing my wings."

"Ah."

Koakuma pulls away and straightens herself out. "Well, I guess I'll head to the entrance. If he sees me while you all are searching, he will no doubt treat you as an enemy."

"Then I'll start looking." Abby pushes off of the ground and takes to the air.

"Good luck." Koakuma says this and begins on her way.

* * *

"There he is!"

"Let's get him!"

"EHH?!"

Kamijou had been walking through the hallways after finding out that the second right turn he was supposed to take didn't exist. Instead, there was a single path in the form of a left turn, so he had taken that and begun walking.

However, by that point the path would only permit you one way to go, only keeping straight and then ending the corridor with a turn in either the left or right direction.

 _What's with this building design?! Why are all these turns necessary?!_

Kamijou happened to be tracked down by the fairy maids he saw back when he first came to the Scarlet Devil Mansion with Reimu and Marisa, and now they're after him.

If it were only a few, maybe he could manage and push his way past, but their number looks to be in the twenties both in front and behind him, and it goes without saying that he has no chance against them all.

That is the case.

That is what Kamijou knows and believes as the truth.

However…

"URAHHH!"

Kamijou let out a yell and charged at the group in front of him, passing right under the fairies that, for some reason, were all high above him and never bothered to land and actually block his path.

He turns the corner and runs, noticing that this hallway conveniently has a left and a right turn for him to take.

After making a quick decision, he makes a turn…

And finds nothing but a lone door at the end of it.

That being said, it was not a disappointing door. It was huge and intricate and had many locks on it, though none of them were fastened. It gave off the aura of something important or powerful being held inside.

If possible, he wants to avoid going in there to ensure nothing goes terribly wrong, but since he can't exactly backtrack, he has to take this risk.

 _Here goes…may my misfortune not get too bad in here…_

He opens the heavy door the smallest amount he can in order to squeeze in, and then carefully pulls it shut.

 _Now, let's see what this Kamijou has gotten himself into this time…_

He turns around with his fingers crossed, wanting to get a look at the place that he's going to be hiding in for the time being…

"Not again…"

Sitting on a bed is a small girl with shoulder-length blonde hair with a ponytail tied on the left and red eyes, with wings holding multicolored crystals on them. On her head is a mobcap with a red ribbon, in her hand is what appears to be a folded up red dress and vest, and a pink shirt. By her sock-covered feet are red shoes.

Yes.

This is a meeting between a near-naked (she has on red-and-white striped panties and socks, after all) vampire and an accidentally perverted high school boy.

He opens his mouth to explain himself, but the girl beats him to the punch.

"Who are you?"

* * *

[1]: This came directly from a review I wrote for Azuki Rose's Madoka Magica fanfiction 'More Than a Wish'. A chapter I read was so sweet that I wrote the closest comparison for the sweetness I could think of.

[2]: The spell is called Moon & Metal Sign "Sunshine Reflector". It's one of her spells from Touhou Hisouten ~ Scarlet Weather Rhapsody (Touhou 10.5). If you hit one of the grey reflectors, it fires back, and if you don't hit the red ones, they fire back. Either way, it hurts and its annoying, and with those high-powered spells being fired at it, it goes without saying how screwed Remilia and Marisa are, especially with the fact that I'm taking some creative liberties with its function.

[3]: In Touhou Bougetsushou ~ Silent Sinner in Blue, three maids accompanied Remilia, Sakuya and co. to the moon. I've named these three fairies as: Abby Stoic, Emily Euphoria, and Caitlyn Calm. As you can see, these three exemplify stoicism, euphoria, and calm. Don't ask why I gave them these focuses, because I don't know myself.

[4]: Instead of "I'll be damned if [insert something here]", I changed it to "I'll be holy if [insert something here]", because you know...she's a devil...

 **A/N: Well, that wraps it up. Another chapter down. Originally, this one chapter was going to encompass all of "Sister of the Devil—Lethal_Playmate", but the story decided to evolve as I was writing it, so now we have Koakuma as someone who was actually trying to save Kamijou and the appearance of 1/3 of the fairies who went to the moon. Woohoo for author evolution.**

 **Also, I read New Testament 11-14. In the span of two days. I have a problem.**

 **Actually, no. Kamachi-sensei is just that good.**

 **And so, three things to look forward to:**

 **New Testament 15 (April 9th, 2016)**

 **Reitaisai 13 (May 8th, 2016)**

 **Comiket 90 (August 12th-14th, 2016)**

 **The former goes without saying. NT 15. That's really all that needs to be said.**

 **The latter two, though, have to do with Touhou. Next game, guys. Next game. My intuition tells me that this next game will be the best yet, in storyline and gameplay. Of course, my intuition is wrong 75% of the time, but the game should still be good regardless. I wonder if we'll get a spin-off fighting game or a main installment...**

 **Anyway, leave a review and such, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	7. The Scarlet Devil Incident III

**A/N: Happy Easter! Or rather, I hope you had a happy one, since I couldn't post this yesterday.**

 **I won't waste too much time up here, so here's the review responses (thanks for the reviews by the way):**

 **Guest: I suppose 'faceplanting between her legs' is a more conservative way to say it. I was being particularly...straightforward in the last A/N after all.**

 **-Question 1: Read on and you shall see.  
-Question 2: Hmm...probably not. I feel like his misfortune will put him past peace offerings.  
-Question 3: Maybe so. Sorry if I'm being vague, but 1 & 3 are answered in this arc.**

 **Server lock: Oh ho, wait and see indeed. Though I will agree it's getting ridiculous. Do you think the universe is sexually harassing Kamijou Touma on purpose, or is he just that good at getting into these perverted accidents? Perhaps this is the work of the Magic Gods? (Just kidding)**

 **Guest #2: It's not that you were mistaken; I actually went and fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out. Also, there is an explanation for Koakuma's ability not being negated later on (Patchouli's circumstances were explained in the previous chapter). It won't be in this chapter though.**

 **Croniklerx: I honestly wouldn't put it past Touma to do that, whether he intends to or not. I can imagine the response from his harem would be world-shaking. It may even destroy Gensoukyou! (Kidding)**

 **And now that that's over with, on to this next chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident III**

* * *

"Who are you?"

Kamijou gulps. For whatever reason, her voice and the unabashed aura she has despite being stark naked in front of him is turning his blood to ice. All he can manage to do is turn his head to keep his heart from jumping out of his chest.

 _What is this intimidating aura?_

He thinks back to the locks on the door he saw before he ran in.

 _Is she what was locked in here…?_

If so, then his (lack of) luck really just hit an all-time low.

"Hello? Onii-san, who are you?"

"K-Kamijou Touma! I-I'm just passing by, so don't mind me!"

He tries to force his words out so quickly that he stumbles, but the girl, as he turns to look at her (thankfully) fully-dressed figure doesn't seem to notice.

"You're just passing by, Kamijou Touma? In my home?"

The voice is plenty innocent, but it's perhaps this innocence that has him on edge. "Well, yeah…I g-guess I ended up here on accident…" His voice loses confidence in his excuse with each word despite it being true. He didn't come here because he chose to; he had no choice if he wanted to escape those fairies.

 _I hope the fairies are gone by now…_

"Well then, p-please excuse my intrusion." Kamijou hurriedly grabs the doorknob and pulls it open. "Have a nice day, young lady."

He tries to take a step out of the doorway, but then he feels a tug on his blazer, which is tied around his waist. "Eh?"

He feels a cold sweat start to form as he turns around to check out the disturbance.

 _Why am I so afraid of her?_

He looks down and steel blue eyes meet scarlet ones as the girl looks up at him with a pout.

"You're just going to leave, Onii-chan? I haven't even told you my name…" There's a tone of genuine disappointment in her voice, softening Touma's emotions and making him feel bad for trying to run.

"A-ah…sorry…" He swallows and takes a deep breath to steel his nerves, then takes her hand off of his blazer and kneels down to her level. "So what's your name?"

All sign of disappointment disappears and is replaced with something that looks like happiness and excitement.

"Yay! You asked! You asked!"

"…Eh?"

"My name's Flandre! Flandre Scarlet!" She nods after saying this, as if confirming this fact.

"Flan…dre…" _Where have I heard that before…?_

' _This is home to vampires. And always remember that there are two of them, in case we get separated.'_

Hakurei Reimu said this two days ago, as a warning before they entered the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

' _Remilia isn't so bad, but her sister is something else, ze. Flandre…she's a good kid, but kinda cuckoo, ya know?'_

…And Kirisame Marisa said this earlier today as a part of a warning as well.

This girl is that second vampire.

And apparently, she is 'cuckoo', in the words of Marisa. Who is already plenty strange herself.

That fearful feeling has returned tenfold, but this time Kamijou does better in hiding it.

"T-then, it's nice to meet you, Flandre-chan," he says as calmly as possible, taking deep, measured breaths to keep himself from panicking and alerting the vampire. Though she doesn't seem hostile, it is entirely possible she can sense fear and will take it the wrong way.

"Nice to meet you, too!" She clasps his hands and shakes it; an exchange performed entirely on her own.

Feeling relieved at her general friendliness, he decides to ask a question that desperately needs to be asked.

"Hey, um, Flandre-chan."

She lets go of his hand and looks at him with a questioning expression. "Hmm?"

"…Why were you naked?"

"Oh, I spilled some food on my clothes, so I had to change." She says this without missing a beat, speaking with such bluntness that it almost throws Kamijou off completely.

 _So…is she just not bothered by having been…oh, never mind._

He sighs and facepalms, bringing himself back in a standing position. He notes how the girl only reaches up a few inches above his elbow, concluding that she must be about eight or nine years of age.

A child.

The look on her face exhibits an innocence only possible in such. She's viewing him not as a suspicious person, as most teenagers and adults do both in Gensoukyou and the Outside World, but as a potential friend. Possibly a playmate.

Yes, a child.

He knows that many children can be extremely dangerous and advanced beyond their years (like Leivinia Birdway and Patricia Birdway), but in the end, a child is a child. It normally shouldn't take much to help, save, or otherwise aid one to make them not fit a 'dangerous' label or something similar.

There are locks on the door Kamijou is standing in front of.

Flandre is the only one inside. If the fact that she was naked in there is any testament to it, this is her room.

This child was locked in this room. From what he can see, she's free now, meaning she's been helped so that whatever problem she had is under control. And that means that he shouldn't have to worry about this vampire. After all, she seems innocent and simple enough.

However…

"Hey, hey, I want to play!"

Flandre expresses this simple desire to Kamijou.

It's an innocent desire. A childish desire, fitting for the fact that she is one (or rather, appears like one. He doubts she is a new vampire, so she may be a century old or older).

But if that's so, _why did it make his blood run cold_?

* * *

"So what if it was an accident? What about my purity?!"

Remilia yells this while kneeling on the ground in front of Patchouli, who was absolutely furious when she broke up her and Marisa's scuffle, and still is now. She was receiving a lecture about the value of books and such from the magician, and now that that's over with, her and Marisa, who's kneeling on the ground beside her, are trying to explain things to her.

"Oh, would you calm down already? You're talking like he took your virginity or something."

"O-oi…" Marisa looks shocked at Patchouli for saying something like that, especially with it being something a child would normally not know nor need to know for a couple of years (of course, assuming we were talking about a normal child with a normal lifespan. But then again, if you disregard the fact that she eats humans, Remilia really is like a normal child), but Patchouli, frankly, does not care right now. You could call damaging her books, many of which she compiled herself, a sin to be greeted with the harshest of punishments.

"V-virginity? What's that?" Remilia stops being outraged enough to inquire about this new word to her vocabulary.

Patchouli is not fazed. "Don't worry about it. The point I was trying to make is that _it's not that big a deal_. I can understand, maybe, getting flustered if that sort of thing happened, but to _put orders out to kill him?_ _Really?_ "

She's aware she's getting a bit hostile for someone who's being permitted lodging by the person she's lecturing, and perhaps she's even being a hypocrite herself, but her anger is logical. Remilia's, on the other hand, is more like the unreasonable, over-the-top reactions girls in those romantic-comedy manga have that those tengu write.

"W-well…" Remilia looks down and to the side to divert her attention from Patchouli's cold gaze. "I suppose I may have overreacted a bit…" She seems like she's straining herself to maintain her normal cool demeanor, even though that broke a while ago. "However—"

"' _However'_?" The magician cuts her off with a cold voice, startling the blonde magician and even reducing the vampire to cowering.

"Hauu…"

Seeing the girl clutch her mobcap and try to pull it down to cover her head signals to Patchouli that it's time to relent. Any more than this and she just may start crying.

The magician sighs and steels her still-burning heart. "Well, anyway, I'll go and tell Koakuma to call off chasing Kamijou down."

"I'll go and find Kamijou, then. Sakuya might find him and mistake him for one of your meals, ze." Marisa says her first full sentence since she told Patchouli what Remilia was freaking out about, and that causes Remilia to peek out from under her hat.

"S-Sakuya's not here. She went out to go shopping this morning."

Marisa doesn't seem surprised. "Is that so?" She disappears into the labyrinth of books, likely to go and get her broom, and Patchouli starts to go to where her familiar is, but stops when she feels like she's being watched.

 _Don't tell me…_

She turns around to see Remilia peeking out at her from behind a bookshelf.

Again, Patchouli sighs. "You can come with me."

Remilia's eyes light up for a second before she tries to regain her charismatic posture and catch up with her. "You're not mad anymore?" She asks uncertainly.

"I'd say I'm more exasperated by this point. It's kind of hard to stay mad at you when you show me that childish side, Remi." The purplette answers her question while floating towards their destination.

"Oh~…Maybe I should do that a little more…" Remilia says quietly, likely thinking that she can't be heard by the magician.

"It would lose its effect if you did it all the time, you know."

"Geh…"

' _Geh', she says…_

The duo makes their way out of the aisle, and Patchouli says, "Koakuma, Remi has something to say to you—eh?"

"O-oh my…"

"O-oi, Koakuma's not there, ze!" Marisa's voice comes from above, stating the obvious. Patchouli voices this and shifts her target destination not to the crumpled heap that that girl was in when she hit her, but to the door of the library.

"Things just got a lot more urgent…"

"How so?" Remilia asks this, obviously not understanding how grave this situation is.

"To start, Kamijou-san is a normal human. My familiar, though weak by youkai standards, is much, much more powerful than a Gensoukyou human, which can at least use minor magic with training. Outside humans cannot procure any non-material methods of protection here. And let's not think about what will happen if Sakuya were to find him."

"Yeah…she might think of him as an intruder or something." Marisa draws a finger across her neck. "I oughta get going then. I've only known him for a few days, and I can tell he's going to get himself killed, ze."

"That's true…If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn't have had you bring him here today…" Patchouli says this with slight regret, since everything's been blown way out of proportion and causing unnecessary trouble for everyone.

 _But wait…_

"Hey, Remi. How did he even end up falling on you?"

Remilia looks at her as if surprised at being addressed. "Eh? Well, Marisa was chasing him, saying something like 'I didn't choose to be small', or something like that, and then she shot at him and sent him flying…" Remilia's eyes widen as she explains, as if she's just noticing something.

Patchouli's eyes do the same as they turn upwards towards Marisa. "So it all comes back to you, Kirisame Marisa…"

The black-and-white magician avoids eye contact and clutches her hat. "W-well then, I s-suppose I should get going…good luck finding Koakuma!" The magician flies to the door, opens it and dashes out in a three-second time span.

Patchouli sighs. "I suppose we ought to get going, too," she says, and then floats to the door, Remilia in tow. "We need to disarm my familiar."

* * *

She had heard all she needed to hear.

She had spotted a traitor to her mistress.

As noble as her reasons may be, orders are orders. Their job as her servants is to serve their mistress without question or be eliminated.

It goes without saying what should happen to Koa—no the entirety of the servants and maids in the mansion.

Yes.

This is true.

But before their punishment comes the intruder that she heard about when she eavesdropped on them.

"Koakuma-san."

The little devil stops all forward movement and goes rigid. "I-I-Izayoi…san…?" She turns around robotically to look at the Perfect and Elegant Maid, Izayoi Sakuya. "B-back so soon?"

She quirks an eyebrow at the devil. "I've been gone since eight. It's two o'clock in the afternoon. You call that 'soon'?"

"I-Is that so? It's been kind of busy here today, so I guess I've lost track of time…"

"Oh? And what has happened since I was gone that's made us so _busy_?" She walks towards Koakuma and the devil seems to panic as she wracks her brain for an answer.

"Oh, Patchouli-sama invited over a peculiar human with Marisa-san so they could figure out what kind of power he had…and…he had to use the men's room, so we tried to direct him to it, and he got lost." Koakuma nods to herself and her wings twitch: a sign of acute anxiety. "I'm working with the fairy maids to try and find him."

Of course, Sakuya knows that this is a lie. Or at the very least, a half-truth. Which, for the record, is still a lie. Not to mention a poorly constructed one.

Nevertheless, Sakuya goes along with it. Koakuma and the fairy maids' goal is to rescue the boy and help him escape. Sakuya's is to above all else carry out her mistress's wishes, which is to eliminate the boy who wronged her.

In order for the two of them to accomplish their opposing goals, they both must do something first: find the boy. What happens next is up to them.

"Is that so? Well, allow me to help out. It'll make things quicker and easier."

Koakuma visibly shows her relief. "You'll help too?"

Sakuya gives a singular nod. "I don't see why not."

The fact that she's going to help out seems to be cathartic to Koakuma, since she perks up and her anxious fidgety body language disappears.

She opens her mouth to say something; probably tell her what to do, but Sakuya cuts her off. "I'll go and search for him, then."

The little devil seems taken aback only for a second, and then nods. "Okay, thank you, Sakuya-san. If you find him, could you please bring him to the gates, please?"

"Will do."

Sakuya then walks off to go and find this 'peculiar human', at the same time assessing the situation.

Since Koakuma will be waiting by the entrance of the mansion, Sakuya's main opponents lie in the majority of the hopelessly stupid, weak, and useless fairy maids.

Okay, well, maybe not totally weak, since they _are_ led by the three fairies that were chosen to accompany Sakuya and Remilia to the moon: Abby Stoic, Emily Euphoria, and Caitlyn Calm. While all fairies and most people in Gensoukyou are weak in comparison to her, they are no pushovers. In fact, in her personal ranking of fairy strength, the order goes: Clownpiece (the new fairy in Gensoukyou), Cirno, these three fairies (in the order she named them), Lily White (the fairy of spring), the Three Fairies of Light (Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire), Daiyousei, and then every other fairy in Gensoukyou.

Her point is that the fairies will not be easy. Thankfully Koakuma is staying at the entrance; otherwise the difficulty level of this mission will double.

And then there's the peculiar human himself. Apparently Patchouli brought him over so she could find out what kind of power he has, which means that itself could potentially cause her problems.

 _Maybe if I try to convince him that I'm not an enemy…But if that doesn't work, I'll be subject to resistance and whatever power he has…_

Looking at all of the different powers the people in Gensoukyou have, all she can do is prepare herself for anything and everything.

"Let's see, now…how to start…Ah."

She got an idea.

Using her dominance over space and time, she shortens the length of the hallway she's in and lengthens the ones that it is connected to, so as to impede not only the boy but also the fairies. When she turns onto the next hallway, that one will shorten and the next ones it connects to will lengthen, and so on.

Kicking off of the ground, Sakuya then begins to fly down the halls to search for the boy that her mistress wants dead.

* * *

 _I really, really don't have time for this._

Kamijou's primal fear had long since devolved into exasperation and general boredom.

" _Hey, hey, I want to play!"_

That's what she said. For whatever reason, that scared him almost as much as the thought of facing a magic god did back in Sargasso.

However, what happened next made him feel stupid for feeling that way.

Shaken up, he had asked: "W-what do you want to play?"

"Um…uh…how about tag? Do you wanna play tag with me, Touma?"

"Erm…sure."

He had a thought before he answered: _first 'Kamijou Touma', then 'Onii-chan', and now my first name?_

He supposed that it was justified since he called her 'Flandre-chan', but normally elder persons don't have to pay as much attention to politeness when talking to a younger person. It would be okay even for him to just call her 'Flandre', or even 'Flan-chan', if he was feeling especially friendly, but it doesn't go both ways.

But then again…

"Hey, Flandre-chan…how old are you?"

She had put her hand on her chin and made a face like she was pondering something. "Um…about 495 years old…I think?"

Kamijou suppressed a jaw-drop and dismissed his previous train of thought. He was the one being disrespectful here. Though he guessed that since she has a childish mindset she won't think much of it.

"Anyway, let's play tag!"

Flandre bounced in place and waved a hand at him, trying to bring him back on track.

He sighed.

 _I really, really don't have time for this._

And that brings us full circle.

Actually, there is an addition to the thought above: ' _But I guess I can spend some time with her.'_

They decided through the magical method called 'eenie-meenie-minie-moe' who was going to be 'it' first, and Kamijou ended up at that position.

And now, Kamijou is half-heartedly chasing the blonde vampire through the mansion.

But, surprisingly, the girl wasn't abusing her powers and flying or moving at supernatural speeds like he expected. She's using her natural elusiveness to evade Kamijou's not-totally-enthusiastic lunges.

"Haha! You missed me, you missed me!"

He grits his teeth as he finds her taunt frustrating to no end, and he makes a sudden lunge at her, managing to brush her on her left shoulder.

She bursts into laughter, her blonde hair and her wings moving as she giggles.

"Haah…I caught you…" For someone who was so uninterested when it started, Kamijou is feeling a sense of genuine accomplishment. She has the mobility he would expect from a child.

She claps her hands in excitement and happiness. "Good job, Touma! Now, it's my turn, right? Right?"

He nods. "Yeah. Come and get me, Flandre-chan!"

He's gotten way too into this.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he's sure the serious part of him is screaming at him in frustration.

But quite frankly, he's forgotten how much fun it is to do play around like a kid.

…

Well, actually, 'forgotten' is not the proper word for it; he doesn't even know what it's like to be a kid.

Everything from his birth to July 27th, 20XX is a blank.

Kamijou thinks all of this as he evades the girl's lunges by narrow margins, eventually making it to the end of the hallway and he dashes around the corner to evade another grab.

 _Oh crap._

"Uu~…Touma, you're moving too fast!"

Kamijou ignores her complaint as he looks at what appeared in front of him.

Four-pronged wings on her back. Medium length black hair and purple eyes covered with spectacles. Generic maid outfit.

A fairy maid.

"Ah, there you are."

"H-huh?!"

The fairy maid's snaps her fingers and a cluster of female bodies throws itself his way. Normally, this would be a cause for rejoicing, but there's nothing that could go well for him if he gets caught here.

So what he does is simple.

He ducks.

There are dull thuds as bodies fly into each other, and Kamijou rolls forward so that he's face-to-face with their leader. He need not worry about the countless fairies that collided where he was. He's out of harm's way, Flandre is as well, and so now he has to move from the sidetrack to the main one: escaping the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"What do you want from me?"

Her face doesn't move in the slightest as the boy stares her down. "Why, to take you in, of course."

"Why? Are you working with the Patchouli-san's servant?"

She nods.

 _Then that's my cue to g—_

' _Shhip!'_

A sound like the tape on a tape measure being retracted into its case is made, coming from behind him.

The bespectacled fairy maid looks behind him with the emotion of shock conveyed in only her eyes.

 _Eh?_

He turns his head and watches as the maelstrom of fairies comes to a stop, all looking with terrified expressions at someone.

A vampire.

Flandre is standing with her hand held out from her clenched in a fist and a cold look on her face.

"Flan…dre…?"

She opens her hand again and holds it at one of the fairies floating right in front of her.

"I don't really understand what's going on…"

She closes her hand.

' _Shhip!'_

The fairy's body explodes…

But there's nothing left.

No sign that fairy ever existed.

"But you're trying to hurt him, aren't you?"

Kamijou's jaw drops. He can't entirely process what just happened, but he at least gets that this girl is strangely attached to him and is trying to protect him. He's not particularly against this development, but there's one problem that negates all of that.

The problem in question is the fact that she just _killed two people for his sake._

"Not at all, Flandre-sama."

The fairy that appeared in front of him speaks up in a monotonous voice, though her posture betrays that completely. He can see a sweat starting to form on her brow in fear or panic, and she's balling up her fists so hard her knuckles are white.

The blonde vampire turns to the fairy that spoke and opens her hand again. "Then what are you doing flying at him like that?" She raises her hand towards her. "You could have hurt him!"

"Goddammit, where are Caitlyn and Emily…" He hears her mutter this as she looks at the raised hand and takes a step back.

Flandre, however, doesn't seem very pleased with the fairy maid not answering her, because her hand twitches and she starts to squeeze it shut.

"W-wai—"

Flandre's line of sight ends up obscured.

"H-huh?"

Kamijou stands in her way with his right hand out.

"No, Flandre! No more!" He has a deathly serious look on his face as he tries to command her to stop.

However…

Her hand closes, completing its motion.

' _Shhip!'_

Kamijou pales.

Slowly, he turns to look behind him, even though from looking at what happened to those other two fairies he knows he doesn't need to. He doesn't need to say what he found (or didn't find) there, either.

Kamijou grabs at some of his hair with a despairing look on his face and turns to Flandre, who's looking at him very confusedly, as if she were wondering if she did something wrong.

He grits his teeth as he looks at her, but he can't exactly get mad at her. She did do it for him, however misguidedly.

 _But there's no need to have to go that far…_

Kamijou then does the thing that ensures that no more fairies can be harmed.

"Come on."

"E-eh?"

The boy grabs the little girl by her hands and then runs off, dragging her along with the fairies parting for them as he pulls her through.

 _I've got to get her away from other people…_

"H-h-hey, Touma! You're going too fast!"

Flandre says this with a shaky voice as she tries to keep up with his pace, and eventually he gets to feeling a lot less resistance than a few moments prior.

However, he ignores that for the time being and focuses on getting her and himself away from the fairies.

"T-Touma! That hurts!"

This time he looks back to see Flandre, airborne (of her own volition, he supposes) and with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

 _Ah…I'm overdoing it some…_

He lets go and the girl drifts back to the ground, holding her right hand.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to squeeze that hard."

She shakes her head and wipes her eyes as she caresses her hand. "It's fine…But why did you pull me away so fast for, Touma?"

Kamijou Touma speaks to answer, but at the same time he thinks to analyze.

"I didn't want you to hurt anyone else."

 _What is that power she wields?_

Flandre tilts her head sideways questioningly as she looks up at him. "Eh?"

 _Is it some type of power of absolute destruction?_

"You…killed those fairy maids, Flandre-chan. I wanted to make sure you couldn't kill any more. For your sake, for my sake, and for their sake."

 _If so, how does it work?_

"Huh? It's fine, isn't it?" She rights her head and walks up to Touma's side. "They just come back to life anyway, no matter how many times I kill them."

Feeling relieved that the fairies weren't dead, Kamijou was tempted to ask what she means or how they were able to do that, but there was a more pressing question to be asked.

 _Is she able to crush whatever she sees in her vision with her hand?_

"No, it's not fine." He begins to walk, and Flandre follows. "A life is not something to be toyed with. Even if those fairies will just revive, why do they need to suffer that unnecessary pain?" Kamijou, contrary to how it seems, is not lecturing or scolding the girl, but rather talking some sense into her. It seems to him that some kind of circumstances, maybe (if his conjecture about the locks on the door he found her in are correct) her being in that room all the time has denied her a basic forming of morals.

 _But wait, that would mean she would have killed me when I stepped in the way. Maybe she chooses her targets beforehand…_

The vampire hangs her head. "S-sorry…I just wanted to protect you so we could finish our game…"

At this point, his second train of thought is derailed and replaced with _'So that's what you're worried about?'_ and _'Seriously, why is she so attached to me?_ ', but nevertheless, a small smile finds its way to his face. The remorseful and apologetic look on her face tells him that she seems to take these words to heart. "Don't apologize to me; apologize to the ones you hurt."

She nods and keeps her head down as they walk with no location in particular.

Kamijou decides to make one.

"Hey, Flandre-chan?"

She raises her head. "Yeah?"

 _Time to return to my original goal._

"Could you show me the way out of this mansion?"

This time, instead of a confused expression, she has a disappointed one, as if she instantly caught on. "Is it time for you to leave?"

He nods. "I'm afraid so."

Sniffles.

Kamijou wears a look of despair on his face as the girl seems to immediately find the need to hold back tears. "But I wanted to play some more…"

"Geh…"

The Outsider now feels terrible. Driving this girl to the verge of tears is leaving an extremely bitter taste his mouth. "H-hey, now, Flandre-chan, don't cry! I'll come and visit you again!" He blurts out these words with full intentions on following through with them, but as things stand now, it may be a little difficult.

"Really?" The way her eyes light up is adorable, but at the same time Kamijou thinks that she may almost be overenthusiastic about him returning.

"Really. Now let's get going." _Please?_

She circles around him and he eventually feels small hands under his armpits.

"W-whoa! Flandre-chan?" He cranes his neck to try and see what the girl is doing, but only manages to see the top of her mobcap and one of her multicolored wings. "What are you—"

"Eei!"

Kamijou feels his feet leave the ground as his vantage point gets a lot closer to the ceiling.

"O-oi, Flandre-chan? Why are we in the air?"

"So we can get you to the entrance faster~!" Her extremely bubbly voice fills his ears as she's holding him close, her arms under his own and her own head near to his own.

"Um…I am in a rush, but I don't need to—"

The vampire cuts him off with her high-pitched, overzealous voice.

"The quicker I get you to the entrance, the quicker you can come back, right?"

 _Oh no._

"Fla—"

Once again, Kamijou Touma is out of his element…

And once again, Kamijou Touma is airborne.

* * *

 **A/N: Here we are, having veered away from flanderization and brought the sides of this story to light, which can be simplified into 'Pro-Touma' and 'Anti-Touma'. On the Pro side: Patchy, Marisa, Remi, Flandre, Koakuma, Abby, Emily, Caitlyn, and the fairy maids. On the Anti-side: Sakuya. It may appear to be stacked against Sakuya, but don't forget that she has spatial and temporal dominance on her side. I'd say this is about even.**

 **But wait; there's another side! The 'Ambiguous' side: Meiling! Don't forget about our favorite Qipao-wearing, gate-guarding youkai! She may not be especially powerful, but she may well be the one who decides this! Too bad we won't be finding out for another chapter or two.**

 **Anyway, so yeah. That's another chapter done, maybe setting the scene for some action next chapter. To be honest, I'm kind of excited. Not only because of the inevitable meeting between Sakuya and Touma, but also because of NT 15 coming out on April 9th. Oh, and the fact that Urban Legend in Limbo is being released for the PS4, with additional content to make it fitting for the system. Hopefully we'll get that additional content on PC, since I don't own a PS4 and likely never will.**

 **Oh, and since this is the closest chapter to April 1st...here's the poll results! You know, the one where I asked what you guys' favorite main game was...:**

 **Winner: Touhou 9 ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View, with 2 votes...**

 **Runner-up(s): Touhou 8 ~ Imperishable Night**

 **Touhou 6 ~ Embodiment of Scarlet Devil**

 **Touhou 7 ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom**

 **Touhou 14 ~ Double Dealing Character - all one vote.**

 **And then every other game...I'd say you guys are old-timers, but sometimes the classics are simply the best.**

 **Anyway...I think that's all I have to say for now. Leave a review and such, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	8. The Scarlet Devil Incident IV

**A/N: Chapter eight. This arc is a bit longer than I originally envisioned, but that's mostly because I keep revising the plans for the arc.**

 **Also, it's April 9th. New Testament 15 is out officially. I'm ready.**

 **Reviews (thanks for these by the way):**

 **Guest 1 &2: I truly think that description of Touma's effect on girls is accurate. Saying he's catnip/girlnip/Toumanip is totally right. And unfair. Why can't I get some attention too? *cries in corner***

 **enigma95: Asking how strong Touhou characters are can and will start flame wars, sir/ma'am. Touhou characters can range from the 'dust mite' level all the way up to the 'universal god' level. Some characters at the left (dust mite) end would be Rumia, Motoori Kosuzu, Lily White, Tokiko, and Hieda no Akyuu. Basically humans/fairies/pathetic youkai. At the 'Universal God' side, the Dragon God stands at the top of the power rankings, and then the closest characters to that would be Shiki Eiki, Yamaxanadu; Yakumo Yukari, Kazami Yuuka, Yagokoro Eirin, the Watatsuki sisters, Kishin Sagume, Yasaka Kanako, Moriya Suwako, Izayoi Sakuya, Kamishirasawa Keine, Hoshiguma Yuugi, and Ibuki Suika. Of course, the people who I listed are based on personal opinion (though Yukari and Suika are generally agreed to be among the top tier characters.)  
The point is, the only person that can truly answer your question would be the creator himself.**

 **TheLastSterling: Well, the only person Touma can fight (sort of) evenly in this arc is Meiling, after all. I think a fight between them is bound to happen. No promises though.**

 **WinkinsLite: Well, his right hand isn't affecting it because Touma is being physically carried. Hopefully that gets cleared up as you read on.**

 **'question': Erm...sorry, but I don't speak Spanish. And putting it in Google Translate makes it equally illegible to me.**

 **ahmadhaikal28: I don't have any plans for Kakeru, the Magic Gods, Aleister, or Aiwass to appear, actually. Mostly because this happens after NT 10, before anything from 11-15 happens.**

 **And so, without further ado, enjoy chapter 8.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident IV**

* * *

Abby Stoic is the fairy of Stoicism. She has emotions, it just takes a lot for her to express them.

Something like, say, being destroyed quickly, effortlessly, and absolutely by a force she could never hope to contend with.

"Haah…"

She and the other fairies were undoubtedly aware of the person of mass destruction in the mansion with them, but they had not at all expected the person they were searching for to befriend her.

The question to be asked now is: _How?_ _How_ was this boy able to befriend the most destructive force in Gensoukyou?

Abby ponders this as she leans against the wall in the mansion with tears forming on her normally non-expressive features, her hand on her chest as she tries to push away the crushing feeling that began there in the instant before things became hazy—the fairy state between life and death.

 _The only way I can think of this happening is if…_

She shakes her head. She doesn't want to think about that possibility.

She pushes herself off of the wall and floats up in the air, facing the other shaken fairies. As one-third of the authorative fairy group, she has an obligation to lift their spirits and keep them on track.

They still have to bring that boy to the entrance somehow.

She opens her mouth to speak above the murmuring crowd of nature spirits, but chokes as she overhears something.

"Hey, should we really be going after that boy? He has to be just as much of a monster as Flandre-sama is if he can just walk alongside her like that."

Abby is disheartened even further as she hears this, and instead of addressing the group she finds herself questioning just how monstrous the boy is. In a way, he may be even scarier than the younger vampire because they don't know what he's capable of.

Again, she shakes her head and dispels those thoughts. "Everyone, listen up!"

The fairies immediately stop talking and face their leader.

"It appears we have an even larger incident than we imagined on our hands. What we thought to be a simple retrieval mission has turned out to be something much, much more."

There are murmurs of agreement among the fairies, but Abby refuses to let it break into full swing. "That boy seems to have befriended Flandre-sama, which, I will not lie, makes this leagues more difficult, but that doesn't change what we have to do. In fact, this makes this even more urgent."

She pans the crowd. "Our goal does not change. We get that boy, get him away from Flandre-sama, and hand him over to Koakuma-san."

"Well…h-how are we going to get him away from Flandre-sama?" One of the fairies that got crushed by Flandre speaks up.

"We may not have to."

There's a sound of wings flapping as a long sky blue-haired girl with similar bright blue eyes and curved wings makes her way into the corridor, a calm, relaxed expression on her face as she comes forth.

 _Son of a—_

"Caitlyn. Might I ask why you're so late?"

She shrugs. "Stuff." She raises her hands lackadaisically and a blue light shines upon the group of fairies. Within seconds, the distressed fairies' murmuring and anxiety seems to dissipate. "Anyway, like I said, we may not have to."

If Abby did not know who this particular fairy was, she would think she was imagining things.

This fairy's name is Caitlyn Calm, representing the emotion of calm. She could be considered a fairy with a very similar nature to Abby, since they both can be eerily relaxed or unreactive to situations, but Caitlyn is more…complete in a sense. While Abby's stoicism shows her to be serious and unresponsive to any and all situations, it's really just more on the line of her voice and body don't express emotion got much of an extent. Her emotions can still be triggered.

As for Caitlyn, she really is the personification of calm. Her demeanor is always that of relaxation and calm, and her emotions really don't stray too much from her namesake. Any other emotion is the 'calm' variant of it.

Abby raises an eyebrow. "And why won't we?"

She hooks her thumb behind her. "That boy was talking about going to the front entrance. Koakuma-san's already waiting there, so if she doesn't make the same mistake you guys did and explains herself, there shouldn't be a problem."

That same previously-crushed fairy speaks up again, much more at ease than when she first spoke. "But Flandre-sama seemed kind of…excited…what if she just attacks without giving her a chance to speak?"

Caitlyn waves her hand, motioning to herself. "You have me, remember? As long as we get there before that happens, it'll be fine."

Obviously she's referring to the way that she can project her natural emotion upon others, as shown with the group of fairies below Abby, but Abby still has her doubts.

For example, what's to say that Flandre still won't attack even when put into a calm state?

And then there's the other problem.

For a third time, Abby opens her mouth to address the problem.

And, for a third time, she is interrupted by someone else's voice.

"Well, if that is the case…"

 _I swear, if someone interrupts me again…_

"Shouldn't we get a move-on?"

Another fairy makes herself known from the opposite end of the hallway that Caitlyn came from. This one has shoulder-length orange hair, blue eyes, wings that look to be an incomplete vertical '8' and seems to be like a factory for positive vibes.

This is the third and final fairy of the triumvirate. The three fairies chosen by Izayoi Sakuya and Remilia Scarlet to accompany them to the moon.

The three fairies to be judged as 'the best'.

This third member's name is Emily Euphoria, and she is the fairy of—you guessed it—euphoria.

Abby takes a deep breath to calm her nerves. Though her face doesn't show it, she's extremely agitated. So agitated, in fact, that she refuses to face either of duo lest she snaps at them.

"Yes…I believe we should. We can't use Caitlyn's power on her if we're not there."

She beckons to the force of fairies, prompting them to rise into the air, and then she turns the way that Flandre and the boy took off to.

"N—"

"Let's go!"

Abby clenches her teeth as Emily yells out to the other fairies.

And so, while Emily is distracted, Abby drifts closer and closer to the euphoric fairy.

She forms a ball of purplish energy in her hand as Emily holds her arms out towards the lesser as if asking for a collective embrace, a citrus-colored beam of light spreading over them, most likely to lift their spirits.

Abby lifts her arm up to bring the sphere down on her colleague's head, her priorities totally skewed with her aggravation.

She finally brings the energy down to scald her target, but before that can happen…

A hand finds its way around her wrist.

"…"

Sighing, Abby lets the ball dissipate as she looks at the serene expression of Caitlyn.

"You can beat on Emily all you want after this is done, Abby. For now, we get to the entrance, okay?"

Abby pulls her arm away. "Fine." She now points forward, directing the fairies' attentions in that direction. "We've wasted enough time, fairy maids of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It's time we started moving."

Nothing else needed to be said.

With those final words, the fairy force took off towards their destination.

* * *

Why do people desire to fly?

Perhaps it's for the feeling of freedom, being released from their worldly constraints. Namely, gravity.

Perhaps it's for a more practical reason, like being able to reach their destination quickly without being held back by human and animal traffic. Though, to be honest, this is normally a sub-reason than the main one.

Perhaps it's because they just want to see what it's like. Maybe the person is a thrill-seeker or something similar.

Perhaps they, however outrageous this may sound, are dissatisfied with the temperature on the ground and wish to cool off in the air. This is hardly a common reason, and if this were your reason for flying, you cannot blame anyone for looking at you strangely.

Kamijou Touma, however, can tell anyone firsthand that flying is not a pleasant experience. Why, you ask? Well, let's go over one of his past experiences.

How about his fall from a plane in Tokyo Bay? He was in freefall from that plane for a sizeable amount of time, and were it not for the dragon that was responsible for the plane crash flinging him into a nearby building, he most surely would have lost his life.

Imagine if you lost control of your method of flight while up as high as he was. Actually, it doesn't even need to be from that high; if you lose control at even three stories up you can sustain serious injury.

Now, why is all of this being talked about now?

Well…

"Oi."

Kamijou calls out at a slightly irked tone of voice to the person suspending him in the air.

"Hum hu-hum~!"

The person he called out to continues to hum a strange tune she started not even five minutes after she started carrying him, perhaps to fill the overwhelming lapses in conversation between the two.

"Oi, Flandre-chan."

The young vampire doesn't respond yet again, further irritating Kamijou.

He looks down at the tiny hands gripping him by his underarms and catches a glimpse of how far off of the ground he is, which makes him pale.

 _Why does she have to carry me so high up…?_

The Scarlet Devil Mansion is just that: a mansion. A huge one at that. So much so that a single floor spans the height of two floors in a skyscraper in the Outside World.

Which means he's nearly two stories off of the ground, since, for whatever reason, Flandre is flying up near the ceiling.

Two stories might not seem much to some people, but one must remember that Kamijou Touma is nothing but a normal high school boy with a special right hand.

And that right hand, that Imagine Breaker, can't do anything to defend him against a fall.

If something causes Flandre to drop him, he has to make sure he executes the landing perfectly, lest he sprain or break something. In order to ensure his safety, he has to make sure he lands as soon as possible.

 _Hopefully I can get her attention with this…_

"Flandre!"

"Kya?!"

She jumps, and suddenly Kamijou finds the uncomfortable-yet-secure grip of the girl's tiny hands nonexistent.

"UWAAH?!"

Kamijou begins a perilous descent to the ground and curses his decision-making.

 _Great job, Kamijou! Let's_ startle _the one carrying you!_

He pushes that voice out and looks for a way to break his fall. There's nothing sticking out that he could potentially grab on to, but if he's close enough to the wall…

 _Hmm…If I'm looking at this right…_

Kamijou thinks while looking at the approaching wall in front of him. It looks like Flandre let go without disturbing his forward motion.

 _I'll be able to touch the wall about two-thirds of the way down…_

With this information, he can effectively land with minimal injury.

He can do one of two things: position himself so that he lands on the wall with both feet and then push off and tuck-and-roll or turn so that he hits the wall with his shoulder, allowing him to break all momentum and weather the minimalized impacts from hitting the wall and the significantly shortened fall from that point on the wall to the floor.

Obviously the first option looks best, but one must keep in mind that Kamijou Touma is nothing more than a normal high school boy with a special right hand.

The Imagine Breaker only negates oddities; it doesn't give him the ability to perform that sort of professional maneuver. With his (lack of) luck, he could end up spraining his ankle trying to land perfectly on the wall and screw himself over for any potential encounters later.

With this in mind, Kamijou turns so that his right shoulder faces the wall.

While this seems like a subconscious move on his part to brace for the impact, he in fact thought this movement through carefully. If possible, he would like to keep his injuries limited to one side of his body to ensure maximum mobility for the encounters he is almost guaranteed to get in. He already has his terribly-sprained wrists from Marisa's sadistic episodes with her lasers; a shoulder injury won't make things much worse.

Not to mention; in the event that his right arm happens to get—he supposes—torn off, if there's no way for it to be reconnected then it will come back, good as new.

That being said, though, he would like to avoid that at all costs. He cannot totally account for all of the damage _that_ would cause.

He clenches his teeth and steels himself for the impact…

"Touma!"

"Hng?!"

All breath leaves his lungs as something hits him in the side.

"Ghk?!"

' _Crack!'_

Another impact comes in the form of the wall he had been planning to hit, but far, _far_ harder than he had originally intended.

' _Thump!'_

"Kak!"

The third impact came in the form of the ground. Overall, this impact might have hurt the least, but a searing pain in his chest area instantly nullifies that fact.

He tries to get his bearings and first identify the condition and whereabouts of the thing that hit him.

Turns out he doesn't need to look too far.

For right in front of him is the vampire girl Flandre Scarlet.

However, the thing that makes this even more outrageous is the fact that _her face is buried in his crotch._

"F-F-Fla—"

He begins a bashful outburst, but is stopped short by the unbearable pain in his chest.

Come to think of it, he did hear something crack when he hit the wall.

 _No way…_

Kamijou begins to pat himself down to search for the afflicted area, eventually wincing and biting his cheek in reaction to the pain.

 _I…broke a rib…?_

Being careful not to breathe too deeply or to disturb his position too much, he lifts up his shirt and cranes his neck to look to see if he's as bad as he thinks. If there's a lump or something out of place, then that pretty much confirms that it's a break. If not, then it could be anywhere from bruised ribs to a hairline fracture. Which is a step up from the worst case, but it will still hurt like hell.

What he sees absolutely terrifies him.

 _Ooooh my g—_

"Puah!"

' _Thump!'_

He doesn't even have time to make a sound as Flandre's head hits his own at an inhuman speed and sends his head bouncing off of the wall. His vision goes spotty and he now has an earth-splitting headache to go along with his questionable ribs and sprained wrist.

"Haah…I couldn't breathe!"

He's aware of these words out of the corner of his consciousness, but he puts his focus not in responding to those words but to keep himself awake. His brain feels like it has nails being driven in behind his eyes and blackness is creeping in from his peripheral, but he can't afford to pass out here. As much as his body is telling him to through the aching, he can't leave his escape to Flandre. That would just be using her.

"Oh my god, Touma! You're bleeding!"

For whatever reason, his mind snaps a bit more into focus at those words, and he finds himself paying close attention to what Flandre does next.

She reaches tentatively towards his head, and her small hand blocks out the left side of his vision as she touches his brow.

"Uu…Uu…what to do…"

She pulls her hand back and he sees a crimson fluid on her index finger, and while she's fretting over what to do Flandre sticks her finger into her mouth.

"…!"

Flandre shudders and seems to try to say something but can't quite get it out as she looks at him with wide eyes.

"That's it!"

Flandre opens her mouth, revealing a fang he had paid no mind to in his interaction with her and she draws closer to him.

What happens next can only be described as 'vampire-like'.

* * *

"Dammit, not in here either…"

A human girl slams a door shut in frustration.

She lifts up her hat and scratches her head, trying to think of where her target has gone.

Who is her target, you ask?

Well, this target is someone being sought out by nearly every living being in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, for various reasons. This person is someone who was brought to this humble abode with hopes of finding his way home, only to have those hopes dashed because of a tactless remark.

' _I just know it wouldn't hurt for certain people to know what's in here [the book '_ Methods of Breast Enlargement _'].'_

Kirisame Marisa, the human girl that that remark was directed to, grits her teeth as she remembers what he said, how she reacted, and the clusterfuck that it has led to.

Looking back at it, the remark probably held no malicious intent, so her chasing after him firing magic all willy-nilly at him was definitely disproportionate.

And that reaction is what got him into the situation he's in now.

"Tch."

She mounts her broom again and advances slowly down the corridor, searching each room she comes across.

Marisa doesn't reflect on her actions normally, but today just seems to be different for some reason.

"Well, time to fix what I started, ze."

With those words, the human magician continues her search for the Imagine Breaker with a stronger resolve than when she started.

* * *

"That Koakuma…I didn't realize she was this mobile…"

"You shouldn't underestimate your servants, Pache."

"Hush, Remi."

The magician Patchouli Knowledge and the vampire Remilia Scarlet are also searching for a target.

However, the outstanding fact about them is that they are two-thirds of the people not searching for the boy named Kamijou Touma.

Those two were, instead, searching for the succubus servant of Patchouli Knowledge named Koakuma, who is acting on orders from Remilia to take the human boy's life.

The purple-themed magician girl managed to convince the vampire to withdraw her order, but when the two of them went to tell the little devil inside the Voile Library of the mansion, she wasn't there where she was originally stopped.

Now they're pursuing Koakuma, who is pursuing Kamijou, who is pursuing his safety.

Patchouli looks over to the girl floating beside her.

 _I know Remilia agreed to retract her execution order, but I don't see her agreeing to it as easily as she did. There would normally be more of a struggle, given how she is._

She notes the very serious and concentrated look on her friend's face as she floats forward, pushing ahead of Patchouli and reaching the end first.

 _Just what is she planni—huh?_

Remilia descends to the ground and presses onto the wall, peeking around the corner as if spying.

 _What is she doing…?_

She decides to voice this question. "Re—"

"Shh!" Remilia silences her and beckons her closer.

Obliging, Patchouli floats nearer to her and kneels down beside her. Normal people would probably attempt to look on as well, but why would you waste energy doing that when you can just ask?

"What's going on, Remi? Have you found Kamijou-san," Patchouli asks.

She nods and beckons to her again. "Come look. They're coming now," she whispers, and after a sigh and a mumble of complaint Patchouli again obliges, peeking out over the vampire because of her short stature.

Patchouli waits a few moments, and eventually she hears something.

"Is that…humming?"

"I-I think so."

Patchouli puts increased focus into detecting the distant stimuli and manages to hear some more of the strange yet familiar melody the person is humming.

 _Where have I heard that before…?_

Remilia seems to recognize it immediately, if the way she goes rigid as she gets to hear it more clearly is any indication.

"Remi? You seem to know who that is, right? It's not Kamijou's voice; is it perhaps one of the fairy maids showing him the way out?"

She doesn't answer; only continues to look, and so Patchouli does as well, and the next stimulus comes again in the form of a sound.

"O—, F—dre-ch—."

Patchouli can't quite make out what the person said, since her ears seem to want to take priority on the humming from the (most likely) girl, but she can tell for sure who the person who spoke is.

"Kamijou-san…"

She looks down at Remilia. She's not afraid of Kamijou in the slightest, which means that the person accompanying him is the one triggering this rattled reaction from her half-a-millennium year-old friend.

 _Just who is it? No one in this mansion, under any circumstance, would garner this type of reaction from her. Not Marisa, not Meiling, not Koakuma, not those fairy maids, not even Sakuya could do it. It's not one of them, so who—_

Then it hits her.

The one person who could make Remilia act like that, especially given the circumstances and who she is accompanying.

"Flandre-san…"

"Flandre!"

The boy confirmed to be Kamijou Touma yells out her name at the same time that Patchouli whispers it.

"Kya?!"

"UWAAH?!"

It appears the sudden outburst by the boy startled the young-looking vampire and that, in turn, led to some kind of unprecedented event for the boy, judging from his surprised exclamation.

"Just what is…"

She looks down again to Remilia and sees her ball up her tiny fist against the woodwork on the wall she's hiding behind.

 _Remi…_

She supposes knowing that the person you're trying to prevent from being killed is with possibly the most destructive person in a world full of extremely destructive people would be a bit worrying, but this could also be tied into the fact that that person is her younger sister, whom she is extremely protective of and wants to keep out of harm's way (and from causing harm) as much as possible.

Her being with Kamijou would end up putting her directly into the crossfire, should the wrong person find him first.

"Touma!"

There's a red blur from the corridor where Kamijou's voice came from, and a moment later a loud _'thump'_ is heard along with a crack.

"Huh?"

The blur focuses into a blonde-haired vampire with multicolored wings entangled with the body of Kamijou Touma, who's wearing an expression of full shock as the two of them fall to the ground.

 _Did she drop him and try to recover? If so, then that backfired terribly._

Patchouli watches as the two hit the ground with another loud _'thump'_ , and, after watching how the two react from there, has a fact about the Imagine Breaker that Kamijou gave her and Marisa earlier pop into her head.

' _Well, believe it or not, my right hand seems to negate my luck.'_

"I think I'm starting to see just how true that is…"

Though, she supposes what she's seeing could be considered a win by a male standpoint, assuming they're lolicons or open-minded.

Using one of the books she carried with her, she covers Remilia's eyes before she has time to process what she's seeing.

"P-Pache?!" Remilia whisper-yells this, as if she forgot she was behind her. "Let go! I need to see!"

"Not now, you don't."

Kamijou, looking completely out of it, looks to try and say something only to wince and stop himself short, then pat down his body as if searching himself for something.

 _He's hurt, isn't he? Maybe that crack I heard when he hit the wall was something breaking…_

Kamijou pats himself on his side and he flinches hard in response. Then, after a lot of painful-looking breathing, he pulls his shirt up and cranes his neck, most likely trying now to visibly assess his what's ailing him.

She sees his eyes widen in mortification.

 _If looking at it garners that much of a reaction, it must be a pretty gruesome injury_.

Patchouli gives out this commentary as she watches the boy, still covering a squirming Remilia's eyes as Flandre is still motionless in her unsightly positioning.

"Why is she still—"

"Puah!"

That could be heard from Flandre as her head shoots up at a devilish speed, smacking Kamijou dead in his face and sending it against the wall he's leaned up against. One could compare it to the way a head would move in a head-on collision while driving a car, not that Patchouli would be able to make that comparison.

"Holy…"

Remilia finally manages to pull Patchouli's hand away despite being fully capable of it the whole time.

"Ah…Pache, what just happened?"

"Flandre unintentionally headbutted Kamijou, is all."

Patchouli explains this as she looks at the suffering human boy. If he was out of it a few moments ago, then he's fully discombobulated now. Remilia can probably see this much better than the magician can, but Kamijou's is very dazed and slow-moving now, even though he wasn't really moving much in the first place, and he looks like he could pass out at any moment.

"Haah…I couldn't breathe!"

 _Thank goodness Flandre is so innocent…_

The vampire in question squints her eyes at Kamijou's face, and then they get wide all of a sudden.

"Oh my god, Touma! You're bleeding!"

"He hit him that hard?" Remilia wonders as she looks on at the vampire-human duo.

Patchouli nods despite Remilia not being able to see it. And continues to watch, not exactly sure what they're even waiting here for at this point. She's fairly certain that if they just walked out and explained things, Kamijou would at least not try to run (not that he's in any state to be doing that in the first place) and they can ensure his safety and possibly wring out an apology from Remilia as well.

She begins to voice this, but before she can get the words out she sees Flandre reach her right hand out towards Kamijou's face and rest it above his brow.

"Uu…Uu…what to do…" Flandre mutters as she rests her hand there, perhaps trying to stop the blood from where she split his brow. Eventually, though, she pulls her hand back and begins to fret over it, clutching her mob cap with her left hand and holding up her right, which has fresh blood staining her index finger.

Slowly, Flandre's finger makes its way to her mouth.

"W-wai—"

"She's not…She can't really be…"

Remilia and Flandre both look on in horror at what this girl is about to do.

As if on instinct, the junior vampire closes her lips over the bloody finger, and not even a second later the girl shudders and her eyes widen in what appears to be pleasure.

"That's it!"

"'That's it'?" Remilia looks befuddled at the exclamation, and Patchouli wholly agrees with her.

' _That's it', she says? Did tasting his blood somehow help her figure out a way to right this?_

She thinks of all the possible ways this girl specifically could heal him, but she falls short of an answer.

 _She's a girl who was perfectly engineered by fate to do nothing but destroy. Healing has to be out of the question. It has to be, but…_

Patchouli looks harder at the girl, trying to decipher her thought process and pair it with what she knows about that little sister, but before she can get any headway Flandre shows her the answer.

Flandre opens her mouth wide and leans into Kamijou.

"Aahn~!"

She latches onto Kamijou like the vampire she is, sucking the blood that is her sustenance for a few moments, and then she pulls away. Dripping down the corner of her mouth is fresh blood from the boy, and she uses her finger to wipe it back into her mouth.

And as this demonstration finishes up, Patchouli and Remilia have the same realization.

"She's turning him into—"

"Flandre's making him into—"

"There! Now you're part vampire, Touma! You should be good as new in a jiffy!"

Flandre explains this to a still-not-completely-there Kamijou, who looks at her in a discombobulated, confused fashion.

"Huh…?"

"A vampire, Touma! Vampire!" She throws her hands in the air as she remains kneeled between his legs. "Vampires heal a lot faster than normal humans, even if you're only a partial one! I only sucked a little bit of your blood, so you're only like, one-tenth a vampire, but you should still heal a lot faster now!" [1]

For whatever reason, Flandre seems ecstatic at this. It's possible it is because he may well be the first person she converted, even if it's only partial.

"My…this is an unexpected development…"

Remilia says this, but Patchouli is too focused on her inner monologue to respond to it.

 _I'll admit it: if I were a vampire, I likely would not have thought of this solution. It's a structurally-sound plan, indeed. I'd be proud if I were Remilia._

The way to turn someone into a full vampire is by draining them of all of their blood.

The method to make a person into a partial vampire is to insert vampire DNA into the blood stream. This DNA can come from many things, but the most common medium would be either saliva, which would enter the human's body when the vampire sucks their blood. The moment it enters the body and begins to circulate through his cardiovascular system, the effects start to take hold and he can be classified as a vampire.

The effects are permanent unless you can remove the fluid from the bloodstream before it runs through the whole body, which is near-impossible without the Lunarian technology at Eientei, Gensoukyou's only official hospital-like organization.

However, all of that information is true only when dealing with normal humans.

A normal human is something that Kamijou Touma is not.

If we were to take all of that and try to apply it to Kamijou Touma, you would find that, one: he would die if he were turned into a full vampire, and two: that he can only become a partial vampire for around a minute—the time it takes for blood to circulate around the body at a resting state.

The reason for this is his right hand. Once the affected blood travels to the blood vessels in his right hand, the adverse effects would be negated.

But until that point is reached, that boy is indeed a vampire and he is indeed healing at an accelerated rate.

 _Judging from Kamijou's reaction after the fall, his injury lies in his ribcage, and looks bad even compared to the pain that he's in. If that's the case, then even with the accelerated healing that's going to take a while._

"Huh?"

Flandre notices something.

"Why aren't you healing anymore? Maybe I have to make you even more vampire for it to work…?"

Patchouli sighs. She can already see the vicious cycle this is going to go into: Flandre makes him part vampire, he heals for a little while and then the effects get negated, Flandre wonders why he's not healing and sucks his blood again, and then they lather, rinse, and repeat until Flandre thinks of something else or Kamijou dies of blood loss.

And while this wouldn't be the first time Flandre has killed, she also wasn't as attached to her other victims as she seems to be with that boy. Who knows what would happen if she ended up killing him.

So…

"Alright, Remi. I don't know why we're still standing here, but don't you think it's about time we go over there? At this rate, Kamijou-san will die."

Remilia's tiny hand clenches on the wall, leaving deep gouges in it due to her strength.

"You go, then, Pache. I'll continue looking for your familiar, instead." She says this and pulls off of the wall.

As Patchouli hears this, her growing suspicion that Remilia is up to something is all but confirmed.

"…"

 _I don't know what she's planning, but I at least can tell it's not something good._

She looks at the Scarlet Devil and the cogs begin turning in the century-old magician.

 _I can't make her stay here with me since I don't have that kind of authority—she_ is _my landlord after all, but I can at least throw a spanner or two in the works._

One spanner takes the form of Kirisame Marisa, who will most likely run into Remilia or Koakuma at some point.

Another comes in the form of one of the vampire's multitudes of weaknesses: running water. Since vampires are essentially demons and often originally get their power from the earth, water, which is the giver of life and symbolizes purification, is an automatic weakness to them as a contrast to their nature. Well, that, and running water causes erosion to earth, if we want to think of this on a practical level.

Patchouli can exploit this with a rainstorm. She had caused a rainstorm during the Scarlet Mist Incident to keep Flandre, who was loose in the mansion at the time, from escaping. Coincidentally, it also kept Remilia from returning to the mansion.

The goal is to get Kamijou out of the mansion. His vampirism will not last long enough to affect him with their weaknesses, so if she causes a rainstorm, Kamijou can get out of the mansion with the only possible opponent to him being Koakuma, who, despite being a devil herself, is not afflicted with a weakness to running water.

Well, maybe not the only opponent. There's a possibility that Sakuya might come back and find him.

Meiling, too, might attack him, but not because his presence is unexpected; she did warn her that she would be expecting Marisa and Kamijou today and to not attack them when they came in, since Patchouli knew that they probably wouldn't have said that they had permission to enter. Hopefully Meiling took that as a cue to take her usual nap, and if luck is on their side she'd remain asleep until he left.

"Well, fine," Patchouli says to Remilia. "But can you tell Marisa, if you see her, that I'm with Kamijou?"

Remilia nods, agreeing to carry out the favor. "Sure thing." The vampire then leaves the ground and starts flying left from the corner they were hiding behind, the direction opposite of her sister and Kamijou.

 _Well then…_

"Flandre-san, I'll take it from here."

"Haah?"

Patchouli floats towards the two of them, interrupting Flandre's attempt to make him a vampire again mid-bite.

The vampire pulls away and licks the blood from the corners of her mouth. "P-Patchouli!" The vampire girl looks at her in excitement, followed by innocent suspicion. "Why are you here?"

"I was looking for someone," Patchouli answers, looking at the slightly better-looking Kamijou. "While I didn't find the one I was originally looking for, I found someone equivalent."

"Oh~. So what did you mean by 'I'll take it from here'?"

She holds out her hand toward Kamijou's chest area and, using a combination of water and wood magic, begins to heal him. "You're partial-vampire method was smart, Flandre-san, but it won't work on Kamijou for very long."

Flandre tilts her head to the side in confusion while Kamijou starts to stir underneath the vampire's weight and the magician's advanced healing magic—the one she used to help him recover from the effects of Koakuma's pheromones. For some reason, Flandre's still straddling the boy despite there being no need to do so anymore.

"Uuh…" Kamijou groans and focus begins to return to him.

Flandre ignores this, as she has a question to ask. "Why won't it work?"

"Because he's special." Patchouli answers bluntly and generally, since she's not sure Flandre would understand a complicated explanation about the Imagine Breaker.

"Does it have something to do with his right hand?"

Patchouli and Kamijou, who had begun listening in with the return of his comprehensive conscious, flinch when Flandre says this.

Nodding, Patchouli asks, "How did you know it had to do with that?" To her knowledge, Flandre has had no exposure to the effects of his right hand, and since Kamijou reacts to the question as if agreeing wholeheartedly, she indeed hasn't.

However, very descriptively, Flandre answers with a shrug. "I don't know. I just kind of… _feel_ something from it." She rocks back and forth and Kamijou's thighs (which looks mildly inappropriate) and asks, "Do you know what it does?"

"In short, it negates the supernatural," is Patchouli's curt explanation, and for some reason Flandre looks especially enthusiastic. "Anything supernatural in nature. Like magic and special abilities."

"Is that so…Then, can he negate my ability?"

Instantly the temperature seems to lower in the room and the tension in the room increases.

"W-wai—"

Kamijou speaks his first words in a while, but chokes on the words that come out.

"Well, I would say it was possible," Flandre again gets excited, to the point that you could say she's reached her fever pitch. She can already see the cogs turning in the small vampire's head, and Patchouli moves immediately to lock it up. "But I wouldn't recommend—"

Her eyes shine in enthusiasm as Flandre raises her hand shakily toward him.

Kamijou squirms under the pressure from the impending disaster. "W-wait a second, Flandre-chan!"

She doesn't listen.

Flandre swallows and her hand twitches in anticipation.

 _Why is she so absorbed in this…?_

Patchouli wracks her brain for a reason as she thinks of what to do. By this point, it won't matter if she moved Flandre's hand out of the way given the nature of her power, though she supposes tackling Flandre herself would work out, since the sudden jostling would make her 'lose her grip' on her power.

The magician holds back on that for two reasons. One: what's to say that Flandre won't try again?

And two: Patchouli feels that, if she were to exert herself like that, she might end up dying in Kamijou's stead, just in a much slower way. [2]

Patchouli and Kamijou both see Flandre's fingers start to contract.

The time for thinking has left and the time for action has arrived.

* * *

[1]: Reference to the Monogatari Series. Its main character is 1/10th vampire.

[2]: Most magicians are physically feeble and fragile because they have to work with elements like mercury and arsenic, and Patchouli is no exception from that. She has asthma, anemia, etc., which has her possibly as the weakest character physically in Touhou. Even more so than characters like Motoori Kosuzu, normal-and-weak Hieda no Akyuu, and the fairies.

 **A/N: Another chapter over and done with. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I gravely injured Kamijou, turned him into a vampire twice, and healed him in one chapter, gathered together and mobilized the fairy maids, placed (justified?) suspicion on Remilia, and had Patchouli become part of Kamijou's party. I wonder, how will next chapter turn out?**

 **Also, New Testament 15. I've only read the preview and the prologue, and holy mother of Yukari it is looking pretty awesome. I won't discuss it yet, though, since it just came out. Maybe I'll start talking about it when the demo for the next Touhou game is released at Reitaisai 13 in May.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**


	9. The Scarlet Devil Incident V

**A/N: Alright, Chapter 9! I'm not going to waste time up here, so straight to the reviews we go! (thanks for these by the way):**

 **ahmadhaikal28: Heh. I feel like Eirin might be the Heaven Canceller stand-in for Touma in Gensoukyou.**

 **Server lock: Well, the only thing I can tell you is to read on. The start of this chapter was actually written with your review in mind. Hopefully it clears things up.**

 **Croniklerx: Touma hasn't become a vampire canonically, mostly because a vampire hasn't yet showed up in the novels. The only proof of the vampires' existence in the novels is Himegami Aisa, the (involuntary) vampire killer.**

 **Pedophilic as it may have seemed, there was no real intention for that, but as I looked through the chapter before I posted I recognized it and lampshaded it, because it was magnificent in hindsight. The closest thing to anything sexual in this story will be probably Touma's introductions to many of the characters, Koakuma's entire being, and Marisa's jokes (maybe).**

 **Also, you may have been, but maybe not. We'll find out if anyone claims the "ToumaNip" review.**

 **I suppose last chapter can be considered a set up for the main event, which starts here.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Glad to know you like how I write Touma. Honestly, in my opinion, I find writing in line with Touma's personality a challenge. I'm glad you like the vampirism explanation, too. Nice to know that my research on blood circulation and vampires paid off.**

 **And about the IT...perhaps we shall see. Though I doubt it will affect Gensoukyou as a whole, the people in the immediate area would definitely get a rain check, especially if they think/know themselves to be fairly strong. Much like most people who encounter it in the TMNI canon.**

 **And now, readers, please enjoy chapter 9.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident V**

* * *

 **Part III: Involuntary Self-Defense—The_Devil's_Plot.**

Everything has an 'eye'.

These 'eyes' are where the tension in an object, animal, or person is highest. If these 'eyes' are destroyed, the object is destroyed without fail, and without any remains to speak of.

Fortunately, these 'eyes' aren't readily available to be interacted with, so no one can easily interfere with them or even know about their existence.

However, just like there are exceptions to all rules, there's a person that goes against what was just established above.

This person knows of these 'eyes', and is freely able to take them and destroy them.

This person is a half-millennium year-old vampire by the name of Flandre Scarlet.

She is able to take the 'eye' of an object, move it to her hand, and by pouring her power into it (usually by crushing it with her hand) can destroy it and the corresponding object.

It is a perfect, fearsome ability for an already fearsome individual.

That being said, Flandre isn't the biggest fan of this ability. She won't deny its usefulness and won't think much of actually using it, but her emotional instability makes it so that she sometimes loses control of it, making her destroy things she often doesn't want to. It's because of this ability that she's locked up in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

She had killed many playmates in the past on accident, destroyed many of her toys without meaning to. So many, in fact, that she stopped playing with toys for the most part and started passing most of her time in her room lazing around or sleeping.

The few toys she still has now are mostly intact because of careful care and decent management on her temperament. Well, maybe it isn't correct to say it's careful management; really, it's just that nothing has triggered her as of late.

There's still a real chance that something—anything will set her off and leave only her memories of them as the remains.

 _A toy that won't break would be a wonderful thing, wouldn't it?_

 _A friend that I don't have to worry about killing isn't too much to ask for, is it?_

These are thoughts she had often.

In fact, the latter thought she had had today when she was changing clothes, since she had stained her clothing eating breakfast.

And, not even a full minute later, someone appeared as if to fulfill that wish.

He had spiky black hair and blue eyes, looked at least seven years older than her (biologically), was wearing an orange shirt, black pants, a black blazer around his waist, and strange-looking white shoes.

He had an awkward and otherwise lame-ish aura about him and didn't seem very reliable or responsible, but he did seem kind and looked like he wouldn't mind having some fun.

Regardless of all that, as she began to interact with him, she noticed that the boy, while noticeably wary of her at first, had warmed up to her quickly and treats her normally, unlike most people who either know of her destructiveness or are bothered by her unconventional ways of interaction.

She wouldn't hesitate to say that the hour worth of time she's spent with him has been one of the best hours in her half-a-millennium lifespan.

She still wouldn't call this boy extraordinary, though, at least if she compares him to the other people she knows, but she will admit that he's not totally normal.

She can say this not because of something that she could tell from first sight, but from something that made itself apparent later on.

It was when the fairy maids had charged at him, attempting to drag him away.

She had retaliated against them willingly, since the way they were going about capturing him could have seriously injured him, and she ended up using her power of complete destruction on two fairies before turning on the fairies' leader.

It seems the boy didn't like that, as he jumped in the way to stop her (not that he succeeded), but something about the way he did it stood out.

That was the way he threw his right hand forward.

He seemed to throw it out almost instinctively, as if he thought it could do something, and that made Flandre start to become more aware of it. There were questions in her head, but most of them were "What can it do?", "How does it work?", and multiple variations of the two.

While it didn't do anything against her power that time, it's possible that maybe, just maybe, it _could_ do something, but it just wasn't applied correctly at the time.

These were just conjectures of her own, running through her mind since the encounter with the fairies and taking over her attention since then, which might have been part of the reason why Touma yelling to get her attention startled her so much that she dropped him.

Because of that yell her focus was returned to the macroverse, and in her panic, she rushed forward to stop the boy's descent.

Her panicked state, however, meant that she put even less consideration into the difference between her strength and a human's strength than normal, since she ended up sandwiching him between herself and the wall, and then she ended up giving him a vicious headbutt afterwards.

She looked the boy over since he seemed to be completely out of it, and saw that she had split his brow (though in reality she had also broken some of his ribs). Since she was the one responsible for harming him, she wanted to do something to help. But since the Scarlet Devil Mansion is mostly full of immortals (vampires and fairies) and those who heal easily (Hong Meiling, Koakuma, Sakuya with her time manipulation, and Patchouli with her magic), first-aid supplies are scarce.

After a bit of wracking her brain, she figured out a way to heal him—turning him into a vampire. Or rather, a partial one, since making him into a full one required taking in more blood than she thought she had the appetite for.

But then something strange happened—he healed for around a minute, but then he stopped, seeming out of nowhere. She tried it again and he started healing again, but then he stopped again as well.

That was when Patchouli Knowledge appeared and explained to Flandre that Kamijou was 'special' (which doesn't mean much in Gensoukyou) and that _'It negates the supernatural. Anything supernatural in nature. Like magic and special abilities.'_

Flandre, when she heard this, had that train of thought about Touma's right hand come back to the surface and had that information added to it, bringing her to a conclusion that might change her life.

 _If he can negate the supernatural, then can he negate my ability?_

This question may not seem like much to most people, but to her this question is of the utmost importance.

For if he can negate her ability, then wouldn't that make him _the friend that she doesn't have to worry about killing?_

And at the same time, wouldn't having him around mean she wouldn't have to worry about _destroying her other toys or killing others,_ too?

With this in mind, Flandre shakily holds up her hand to use her power on Touma. Her mind is focused on one thing, and one thing only: testing this hypothesis. She won't let anything stop her from getting her greatest of wishes fulfilled.

She swallows as she looks at the boy she's straddling. There is unease bordering on fear with a touch of pain in his eyes, and he seems almost as shaky as she is at the moment.

In her peripheral, she's aware of Patchouli fidgeting as well, unsure of what to do, but she doesn't give her the time of day.

Instead, Flandre steadies herself as much as she can (which, in all honesty, isn't very much) and moves Kamijou's 'eye' into her hand.

She has no intention to kill him, obviously, so she's only going to close her fingers to cradle his 'eye' instead of using her usual force to crush it.

Slowly, Flandre begins to contract her fingers and not even a millisecond after, Patchouli begins muttering at an insanely high speed in preparation for a spell.

However…

 _'CRASH!'_

Flandre Scarlet's eyes widen in surprise.

Patchouli Knowledge's breath catches in her throat.

Kamijou Touma's muscles, which were unsteady a moment before, visibly relax.

"Haah…" Touma releases his breath and winces, though not as badly as Flandre noticed him wincing before she tried turning him. "F-Flandre-chan, why would you do that?! You could have killed me," he scolds her as he holds her right hand with his own right hand.

Flandre, however, instead of responding, just sits back on his legs and smiles.

He negated it! He actually negated it!

"H-huh?" Touma looks at the girl bewildered, letting go of Flandre's hand. "Why are you smiling all of a sudden?"

Again, Flandre responds with an action rather than words.

"Eh?!"

"…~!"

Flandre throws her arms around the high school boy and makes a contented noise.

"GAH!? F-Flandre-chan? What's gotten into you?" He squirms in her grip, perhaps thrown off by the sudden expression of affection after what he thinks was an attempt at his life, and perhaps because his ribs are still not entirely healed.

"Touma, Touma!"

"Yes?!"

She releases him and instead holds him at arm's length. "You negated it! You negated my ability!" She says this over-excitedly, moving around so much that she's shaking the poor human.

"Yes, yes, I know!" He matches her volume as he tries to struggle against the young-looking vampire's strength. But despite his distress, the look in his eyes conveys a message along the lines of _'So what?'_ , like it's not a big deal.

But to her, it is.

"You touched my hand, and it went all like 'crash!', and then your 'eye' flew from my hand back to your body!" She waves her arms around as she speaks, as if trying to paint a picture.

"My 'eye'…?" He puts his left hand near his left eye, perhaps thinking about the wound Flandre's head had caused to him that had already healed.

"The area where the tension in an object is highest."

Patchouli's voice rings out, startling Flandre out of her elation and providing an answer to Touma's query.

"It's how her ability works. She moves a person's 'eye' from their body to her hand, and then she crushes it, which destroys the person along with it," Patchouli explains as she moves closer to the pair.

"So that's how her ability works…" Kamijou says with a look that clearly shows that he doesn't understand.

Flandre tunes this out as she's swallowed up by her own overexcited thoughts.

 _Maybe now, since Touma's right hand can do that, Onee-sama will let me go outside!_

The vampire giggles to herself while still straddling the human boy, evoking some sort of primal sense of danger in the human and the magician.

 _If I get to go outside, I can finally get to see the Hakurei Shrine and go to the banquets everyone's always having…I can even go surprise Marisa at her house!_

She feels herself start to tremble in excitement as she imagines the world outside of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

However…

"Alright, Flandre-chan, can't you be ecstatic without straddling me," she hears Touma ask as he grabs he under her arms and lifts her off of him, setting her on the ground beside him and grunting as he does so. "But really, why are you so excited? Normally me negating someone's magic results in confusion and outrage, not excitement."

Touma asks this question, and Flandre answers "You negated my ability! I always wanted to meet someone I didn't have to worry about killing!" She suppresses a squeal of joy as she tries to convey her overflowing feelings to him.

"That you don't have to worry about killing, you say…" He looks to be deep in thought as he says this, and quickly Patchouli takes over the conversation.

"Now I get it…Because Flandre-san has a history of destroying her toys and sometimes killing her friends against her wishes, discovering the existence of someone who can negate that ability has to be groundbreaking for her." Patchouli moves to stand over Touma and crouches down, holding a hand above his chest. "For you, though…" She trails off with a foreboding tone.

Touma's eyebrow raises in questioning. "What? Don't tell me she has some kind of even more destructive, hidden power that can do even more terrible things to me!"

Patchouli starts muttering and a teal light shines from under her hand, illuminating his chest. "With your luck, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened."

Flandre observes the exchange and watches Touma's face become less and less pained than before, her coming to realize that the injury in his torso could only have been her fault.

That was enough to calm her down some.

"Hey, Touma…"

He looks at her as the magician begins to pull her hand away from his chest, and he pushes up so that his back is completely against the wall. "What is it, Flandre-chan?" He looks particularly concerned, as if he has read the remorseful expression on Flandre's face. Not that she hid it, though, so perhaps that was to be expected.

"Um…your injury…that was because of me, wasn't it?" Flandre asks this while being fully aware of the answer that should come from his mouth.

She knew that the answer to leave Touma's mouth would be "Yes." There's no way that it could be twisted so that it wasn't.

But despite all of that, what came out of the human boy's mouth was the opposite.

Shaking his head, Touma says, "No, not at all. It was all this Kamijou's fault."

 _Eh?_

The vampire couldn't understand.

"What…do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. It was my fault. I was the one who startled you into dropping me."

"But I was the one who spaced out!" Flandre argues this, referring to her thinking about his hand while carrying him.

"Again, I was the one who startled you into dropping me." Touma persists, beginning to push himself off of the ground into a standing position, prompting Flandre to rise with him. "If I hadn't been complaining so much about something that wasn't a problem, we would have reached the entrance without a problem."

He pats the now-levitating girl on her head. "And besides: I'm healed now, thanks to you and Patchouli-san. You don't have to worry about it anymore."

At this, the vampire girl couldn't help but smile with relief. The boy's reasoning is skewed but strangely logical, and above all else, kind. Perhaps it's just a natural instinct for humans to protect and cater to the young, but despite knowing what she is and having just met her, he still preserves that original kindness.

Unable to contain herself, Flandre practically tackles the boy again.

"Gwah?!"

"Hmm~!"

Again, Touma gets taken off guard by the sudden display of affection as she knocks him into the wall again, albeit with a much, much more controlled power, and Flandre lets out another sound of pure happiness as she rubs her head against his chest.

After a few seconds of this, Flandre hears the third person present exhale heavily through the sound of rustling clothing.

"Okay, you two. As heartwarming as that exchange was, you can do that while we get Kamijou out of here." Patchouli sounds exasperated, prompting Flandre to detach herself from the boy and look at Patchouli instead. "Unless, of course, you happened to forget your main goal, Kamijou-san."

Touma twitches.

"W-well, then, you two, shouldn't we get going?" Touma begins to laugh to himself while he begins walking in a direction. It is the right way, but Flandre gets the feeling that he started walking without thought to direction, worrying about saving face at that moment in time.

All that being said, Flandre flies to catch up to him, in order to ensure he doesn't take a wrong turn on his way out, and Patchouli ends up doing the same with an exasperated expression.

From here, it's only three short turns to freedom.

* * *

Remilia Scarlet is now the only one searching for succubus Koakuma.

Or at least, she's supposed to be.

In reality, Remilia is up to something of a more sinister nature.

Currently, she's on the lookout for the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The maid had left earlier in the morning to go shopping for her, and said she would be back in towards noon.

It was around two o'clock post-meridiem, so Sakuya should be back by now. It's likely that she's noticed the commotion and is either trying to find Remilia or trying to find the source of the commotion. Normally it would be a better idea to actually go to her own room or the garden if she wants to find Sakuya (or rather, have Sakuya find her), but since this matter is particularly urgent, she wants to find her as soon as possible.

Vampires have heightened senses, so if she strains her ears hard enough she should be able to hear her voice or her footsteps, or even her breathing pattern, which she's come to recognize almost immediately with how long Sakuya has been servicing her.

Eventually, she hears the calm, composed breathing of the Perfect and Elegant Maid, and makes in her direction.

She turns down a hallway going faster than many people in Gensoukyou can fly, but not quite fast enough to break the sound barrier as she moves to contact the maid, and eventually the vampire catches sight of her maid headdress.

"Sakuya!"

The maid turns around as the vampire reaches her, her sudden stop sending a draft past her and blowing her hair into her face.

She tucks her hair away. "Ah, Remilia-sama. How are you today, my lady?"

"I'm fine, thank you. More importantly," Remilia looks her maid up and down, determining her condition. "How much do you know about what's going on in the mansion right now?"

Sakuya crosses her arms, placing a hand on her chin while the other supports it. "I know that there's a human boy running around the mansion and that most of the mansion is out looking for him." She looks at her levitating mistress and continues in a business-like manner. "I also know that you desire his elimination for…something, and that Koakuma-san and the fairies are searching for him to help him escape, against your wishes."

Remilia's expression sours. _So Koakuma's no longer trying to catch him? And she went to the fairies, too? This just keeps getting more complicated._

The vampire looks at her servant. "Well, there's more to add to that, Sakuya." The maid raises an eyebrow in curiosity, awaiting her mistress' words, and Remilia continues. "Patchouli and I found the boy a few moments ago, heading towards the entrance. However, there's a complication in the form of Flandre."

"Flandre-sama? She happened across him?" Sakuya sounds genuinely surprised at this fact, but maybe it's more because the boy hasn't been turned into a bloody pulp than anything else.

"Yes, and she seems to be disturbingly attached to him. And we both know how Flandre can get when we try to take away something she likes."

Sakuya nods in agreement.

"My orders have not changed, even though you weren't there when I gave them. Since Koakuma is no longer trying to carry it out, and I can't do it myself now, I'm entrusting it to you."

"You can't do it yourself?"

"I can't act against him with Flandre present. And even if I myself did it outside of her presence, in the event she finds out I'm sure our relationship will become estranged. She may even try to break out of the mansion because of it."

She looks at Sakuya again, this time with a more remorseful look on her face.

"I have a plan to kill him, but that plan can't have me directly involved. First, I have to pretend as if I'm still searching for Koakuma. And then, while I'm 'searching', if you kill him then I can pan it off as an accident, saying that I wasn't able to call off the order in time. Flandre will then be able to accept it as an accident and the only harm down will be to him." Remilia finishes off her explanation, but then remembers what can be considered a critical condition. "This plan can succeed only if you don't interact with Patchouli, since she's carrying my recall order. You shouldn't have much of a problem if you can get her away from the battle."

Sakuya has a thoughtful expression on her face. "Oh, so you plan to use me to kill him by proxy, so blame can't be entirely placed on you, my lady?"

Remilia nods. "I'm sorry for making such a selfish request, but could you please…?"

"Not to worry, Remilia-sama. I will carry out your orders as you wish." Sakuya looks at her mistress again with a curious expression. "But if I may ask, what did he do that incurred your wrath so powerfully?"

The vampire immediately feels her cheeks flush as she remembers the morbidly embarrassing event from nearly an hour ago. It's so embarrassing that she's tempted to just not tell her, but she figures that Sakuya finding out can't make things any more complicated than they are now.

"W-well…" Remilia floats beside her head maid leans in, whispering Kamijou Touma's felony-worthy crime into her ear, and she feels the temperature of the area around Sakuya drop by at least five degrees.

"Remilia-sama, permission to make him suffer?" Sakuya's expression hasn't changed much from her normal stoic one, but there's a cold look in her eyes that frightens even Remilia.

"I-I suppose I can grant you permission…but don't go overboard." Her charismatic attitude falters for a moment, but she manages to regain her composure.

"Yes, Remilia-sama." Sakuya then turns to leave in the direction of the entrance to the mansion and is gone in an instant, the girl moving inside a stopped time field rather than just flying away, and Remilia turns the opposite way, back the way she came.

She's taking a purposeful detour to ensure she doesn't run into Koakuma yet, who she technically doesn't even have to find anymore thanks to the information from Sakuya.

Her devilish plot has been set in motion.

All she has to do now is wait.

* * *

The only person left is now the one responsible for this mess.

The Ordinary Magician, Kirisame Marisa.

While she did get reinvigorated in her search for Kamijou Touma maybe twenty minutes ago, she still seemed to get absolutely nowhere in terms of actually finding him.

"Ah, dammit! Why is this mansion so freaking big?!"

Marisa yells this at no one in particular as she flies down the hallway at breakneck speed, her eyes and ears alert for the peculiar human boy.

"Well, at least I've pretty much got it narrowed down now, ze."

Marisa has searched much of this massive mansion by now due to her insane speed to rival even the tengu, and has two places left to search: Flandre's room and the entrance of the mansion.

There's a strong sense of foreboding as she thinks about heading to Flandre's room. Like she told Kamijou not even two hours ago, Flandre's not a bad kid, only cuckoo. Mentally unstable, difficult to interact with, et cetera, et cetera. To make matters worse, she is incredibly destructive with her ignorance of how to hold back and her oft-incontinent power.

Take that and combine it with the fact that, somehow, after the Scarlet Mist Incident, the vampire had gotten quite attached to Marisa, and you can understand Marisa's nervousness.

Of course, she could always go to the entrance first to search for him, but Flandre's room is much closer than the entrance is, so it would be impractical. It's more efficient to work from the inside-out if you're starting from within, after all.

"Well, might as well get it over with…" Marisa shudders as she pilots her flying broom, thinking about the various states that she might find Kamijou in if he's in there. She might find him as an unrecognizable shell of a human, flayed and dismembered as if he were a doll, and Flandre would think nothing of it, only that she had broken one of her toys and complaining to her sister that she now needs a new one…

Marisa sticks her tongue out in disgust and turns a corner.

As she turns, however…

"GET OUTTA THE WAY~!"

Marisa is nearly thrown off of her broom as countless bodies pass her, the one that actually collided with her having orange hair and blue eyes.

"Freakin' ow…"

Marisa rights herself on her broom and turns with intent to scream at or even fire some danmaku at person who crashed into her, but then an alarming sight assaults her eyes.

An uncountable amount of the mansion's fairy maids is zooming past her at an alarming speed.

In Gensoukyou, the sudden surge in fairy activity is a sign of either one: the presence or awakening of a powerful being, or two: the beginning of an incident. In a way, they are this world's citizens' warning signal, a sign for the weak to take shelter and the strong to suit up.

It doesn't take a genius to guess which category Marisa can be classified in.

Upon sighting these fairies and the direction they're heading, she's partially relieved.

"It looks like I won't have to go to Flandre's room after all, ze." She says this with an almost happy tone as she's almost giddy with relief. "If these fairies are cluin' me in at all, then Kamijou's over by the entrance…"

Marisa flashes a toothy grin to no one in particular.

"And those idiot fairies are going to lead me right to 'im, ze."

She takes off, tailing the fairies who she hopes are going to lead her to her target.

* * *

 _I didn't think it would take this long…_

The low-ranked succubus thinks this as she sits on a bench, awaiting the legion of fairies with their prize, Kamijou Touma.

She had been sitting outside for an amount of time she hadn't bothered to count, waiting, pondering over the punishment she's bound to get from her mistress and the head of this mansion later on. The crimes: insubordination, conspiring against the mistress of the mansion, being uncomfortably turned on while on the job, among other things.

She won't deny that the idea of there being a human male in her presence that isn't slated to be food for Remilia and Flandre Scarlet is rather exciting and a rare occurrence, at least for the mansion's normal happenings. She'll also admit that perhaps it was improper for her to let it show while working in the library, but you can't entirely blame her, can you? She is a succubus, after all.

And then: fairies. The near-hundred fairies in the mansion are helping her out as well, but since they're basically honorary employees and rarely do anything more than goof off and pretend to work in the presence of Remilia or Sakuya their punishments shouldn't be too steep, if they will even get punished at all. Technically, they can all just up and leave and the only one that will complain about it will be the one who hired them herself.

That says wonders about their loyalty to their job. They enjoy it, but if it ever becomes inconvenient for them, they can walk out without consequence.

That's terrible news for the doomed Koakuma because, since all of the fairies likely know of the penalty that they will face, most of the fairies will just leave and not come back until they think Remilia's anger has died down.

Which means that Remilia's anger at the fairies will be carried over to her, on top of the anger she already has with her.

"Ugh…"

Koakuma's starting to wish she wasn't so noble of a demon and had just left Kamijou well enough alone.

 _Well, at least Abby will stick with me through the torture…_

Unlike other fairies, Abby is actually loyal and mostly responsible, plus she's one of the fairies that actually _does_ work, rather than just pretends to.

Koakuma decides to stop thinking about it. Remilia's perpetual boredom tends to make the punishment games she imagines awfully...creative. Oftentimes she wonders if someone with a kid's mindset should really be thinking of things like that, but she has to remember that the Scarlet Devil is half a millennium old and is a _vampire_. Perhaps it's to be expected.

 _'Click.'_

A few feet to the left of her and the bench she's sitting on comes the sound of the door of the Scarlet Devil Mansion opening.

"Just a short walk across the grounds and you'll be home free, Kamijou-san."

"Finally. This past hour has been hectic…"

"Touma, Touma! You'll come back to visit me soon, right?"

"Er…sure, Flandre-chan. We'll have to wait until things die down, though…"

Koakuma's blood runs cold.

She had not expected this.

Who would have thought that the ones to deliver the MacGuffin boy to the entrance would be her mistress and _Flandre Scarlet_ , of all people?

But while this news is certainly surprising, it's not necessarily bad news to her.

In fact, things could not be any better.

She hops off of the bench and rushes behind it, hiding herself from view as the trio advances down the steps and onto the final leg of Kamijou's journey to safety.

Yes.

If her mistress and Flandre are with him (though she questions why Flandre's with them, or even out of her room right now), then her job here is done.

There were no pointless deaths, no lasting injuries, no excessive hardship.

All's well.

Okay, maybe not _all_ , since she and the fairy maids will be getting disciplined by their mistress later on, but this ending is something she can accept.

All Kamijou Touma needs to do is step foot out past the gate and Koakuma can call this whole incident over.

The little devil sighs in relief and turns towards the doors of the mansion.

 _I suppose I should go tell those fairies that he's been found…_

She begins to walk towards the doors, confident that the party of three ahead won't be able to detect her footsteps in the abnormally warm winter afternoon, however….

The tip of her foot catches on the leg of the bench, and she tumbles to the ground, releasing an audible squeal of surprise all the while.

"Oof!"

Her face impacts the ground gracefully, and she lies there writhing for a moment because of the pain on her face, especially in her nose.

"Ow ow ow…"

"Wah! It's Koakuma!"

This childish voice rings out, reminding Koakuma that before she hit the ground, she was, in fact, leaving in order to hide herself from those three, since the boy might panic upon seeing her.

That being said, she hurries back into a presentable, upright position and faces the trio.

It's likely that at least Kamijou and her mistress will view her as an enemy, so if she wants to nip the impending misunderstanding in the bud, she's going to have to initiate interaction and state her intentions.

"I'm not—"

"Oh, Koakuma, there you are." Patchouli interrupts her. "I've been looking all over the place for you."

"...Eh?"

 _She's been looking for me? But why?_

She's so confused now that she doesn't even fight to get what she was trying to say out.

"...Might I ask why, Patchouli-sama?" She watches her mistress nervously, as well as the Outsider and vampire on either side of her.

"Because, as you can see, Kamijou-san is under my protection, so there's no need to target him anymore. Remilia recalled her execution order as well."

Koakuma feels the relief flood her body and sighs to express it. That expression may be unprofessional and completely embarrassing for a servant to show, but as of now she can't help herself.

The reason for it is because she now doesn't have to worry about facing a stiff punishment for her behavior. And since the boy she had been trying to find is now standing only a couple feet away from her and is under the care of her mistress and Flandre Scarlet, she really needn't do anything more.

"Yes, Patchouli-sama."

Koakuma bows as she answers her mistress, not needing to even explain what she had been doing anymore. She notices that the boy breathes an audible sigh of relief as she answers, but considering that she had the same relieved interaction not even a moment ago, there's not much to be said there.

Now all she needs to do is find the fairies and call off the search request and everything will be resolved.

The question is...where should she start?

"I~found~you~!"

It turns out she doesn't have to look very far.

Koakuma stiffens as she hears the energetic voice from behind her, and she robotically turns around to find an orange-haired, blue-eyed fairy radiating positive energy as she looks at the group.

No, not at the group, but at a part of the group.

At the boy named Kamijou Touma.

"W-wai—"

"Let's get him!"

The mass of fairies, seeming to be radiating the same boundless energy that the dominant fairy is charge forward, towards the peculiar human boy and attempting to bypass the rest of the group in doing so.

But then Patchouli steps in the way.

"Noachian Deluge."

 _Earth Water Sign "Noachian Deluge"?_

Patchouli holds out her hand and a stream of water danmaku shoots out from her hands, mowing down the approaching fairies.

One might not think much of the attack for taking down fairies, but this attack in fact could harm even the hardiest of humans and most youkai, since her mistress is firing highly-condensed water at them rather than just water shaped as bullets. Imagine the destructiveness if this wasn't its spell card regulated form.

Meanwhile, while Patchouli is firing at the fairies, Koakuma thinks about why the fairies are so riled up in trying to get to Kamijou. Can't they obviously see that he's safe with her mistress and Flandre?

"Aah, why did this have to turn out this way?"

Koakuma complains and starts firing into the stream of fairies, who have by now adapted to the situation and have begun to focus on dodging Patchouli's spell and have such tunnel vision that they don't see her attacks coming when she shoots them out of the sky.

Her attack, however, was more effective than originally foreseen.

It seems that the disruption of only the few fairies that Koakuma has hit destroyed the focus of the surrounding fairies, causing their dodging to become wholesomely ineffective as they are now taken down by the Noachian Deluge and Koakuma's own barrage of danmaku.

However, one fairy stands above the rest.

That is the fairy in front.

The orange-haired, blue-eyed member of the fairy maid triumvirate, Emily Euphoria.

She dodges all of the bullets shot from both the magician and the succubus with a smile on her face, the expression making it seem like she's mocking the two of them as she bypasses the two of them and heads to Kamijou.

Patchouli wears a face of tired irritation and turns to face Kamijou and Flandre, her spell having been defeated. "Flandre-san!"

Emily rushes toward Kamijou, her arms outstretched to grab the boy, but…

 _'Shhip!'_

The fairy explodes, leaving nothing in its wake but a small shimmering orange light.

"Touma! Go to the gate!"

Flandre says this to the boy beside her and, after a moment of hesitation, he goes towards the gate, towards his freedom.

However, the wispy orange light that was Emily Euphoria shines brightly and seems to explode. Not even a second later, the fairy rushes out of the still-receding light in perfect form, heading towards the boy.

"Oh, geez. She's gone now."

A cool, serious voice comes from behind her.

Whirling around, she stares down the person behind her.

"Abby! Why are the fairies still pursuing?!"

"They think that their job isn't done until he's physically brought to you."

Abby answers with a grim tone as she watches her friend charge in at the boy, who truly does seem utterly panicked as he dodges her grabs and Flandre makes her passes at destroying her.

"Well why don't you stop them? You're the one that actually gave the order to them, right?"

Koakuma needs this stopped before she can be mistaken for an enemy.

"By this point, it's impossible. Emily has her hold on the fairies, and now she's lost in her enjoyment of combat." Abby looks on and her expression hardens somehow as she watches Emily get crushed again by Flandre, yet revive again and continue her assault.

"But I think we have a way to stop them."

A third party speaks up, and Koakuma looks further behind Abby, where a light blue-haired, blue-eyed fairy speaks up.

The third member of the three above the rest of the fairies, Caitlyn Calm.

"How?"

Caitlyn with her serene expression has the same mocking feeling that Emily's ecstatic expression does, and Koakuma feels it starting to irritate her.

"It's simple." The fairy looks at the recovering fairies around the courtyard who are slowly but surely recovering and making their way towards Kamijou despite the defenses provided by Patchouli Knowledge and Flandre Scarlet. " _We just have to give them what they want._ "

"Give them what they want…?"

Koakuma's confused, but it seems that statement was enough to throw Abby over her expression threshold, because her face scrunches up in obvious displeasure.

"You'd think there'd be more camaraderie among servants…" Abby mutters this as she diverts her attention from her energetic partner battling Flandre Scarlet and Kamijou Touma to her Caitlyn and Koakuma.

"I'm saying that we should give the other fairies what they want. Since they have the streamlined goal of procuring Kamijou Touma and bringing him to you, we just have to let that happen."

"Um...I don't care how many of you there are: Patchouli-sama and Flandre-sama will destroy or immobilize you before that happens." Koakuma points out the obvious fact that, however strong these fairies are (or think they are), they are still small fry to those two even if in numbers.

Caitlyn, however, only nods. "That's the undeniable truth. So, instead, we just have you get to him."

Koakuma feels a pit start to form in her stomach.

The fairy of calmness continues. "If you can get to Kamijou Touma with at least one fairy besides us in view, they'll stop."

This would work. It's feasible. If the fairies, who are driven by the want to fulfill the order see her reach the boy, they will have the idea that they 'failed' their mission and back off.

At the same time, if they captured Kamijou and brought him to her, they would do that and back off as well.

In the end, the differences in these two lie in two things.

One is the amount of time it will take to complete these two.

Two is the mindset of the fairies in the wake of either plan.

Fulfilling the original order will have a positive result in the minds of the fairies, but will take more time and will cause the situation to deteriorate faster.

Fulfilling this newly-proposed idea will have a negative result in the minds of the fairies but will be quicker and will freeze the downward spiral the situation is accelerating into.

Well, at the end of it all, that's all in relevance to the fairies.

Now let's talk about how it will affect Koakuma.

The fairies fulfilling the original order will mean Koakuma will be relatively safe, only having to wait for the boy to be brought to her, even though that order isn't even needed anymore. The downside would be the antagonistic portrayal to Flandre and Patchouli, since all they'll see is the boy being handed over to her like he's a MacGuffin needed to achieve a despicable goal.

The fairies fulfilling this newly-proposed idea will mean Koakuma will have to risk her own life to ensure this day will not get any worse for the boy, since things had to have been tilting in a negative direction since he entered the mansion. It will take less time, but the risk is insane due to the fact that Flandre would likely perceive her as an enemy.

Now, all of that being said…

"But wouldn't that put Koakuma-san at risk?"

Abby points this out and awaits the judgment from Caitlyn and the little devil.

"Why, of course it will. The question here is whether she's willing to go that far for that boy, whom she just met today," states Caitlyn as she looks at the taller redhead, who wiggles her wings in anxiousness.

Caitlyn's question is a valid one. Is she really willing to go this far and risk her own death for a stranger?

She asks this of herself with a critical mindset.

And she comes to this conclusion.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Abby looks at her questionably while Caitlyn wears a satisfied expression on her face.

"My morals won't change regardless of if I know him or not. The fact remains that he's an innocent boy with absolutely no reason to die, so I'm going to do what I can to help him."

Abby sighs. "The nobility is palpable here. I feel it crushing me under its weight."

"You are definitely a noble devil indeed, as much of an oxymoron that that is." Caitlyn says this as she nods in approval.

 _You think so…?_

"Well, if I'm going to do this I'm going to need you two's help."

Abby and Caitlyn don't even take a moment to consider.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Of course. I _did_ suggest the plan, after all."

"I need you two just to come with me. Help me out in getting past the fairies and distracting Flandre-sama, please."

These are two things that these two can undoubtedly help with. In fact, she cannot complete the task without drawing Flandre away somehow, which she absolutely cannot do alone.

But there's one other thing that they can do for Koakuma. One thing she did not tell them.

They are to serve as her support.

And as her leash.

Koakuma, when she voiced her resolve to save that boy, was actually only using a made up excuse made up to get the two fairies to help her, and because that was the only reason she wanted to accept.

If she looks back on what she did when she first met him today, it all makes sense.

When she laid eyes upon him, her mind almost blanked out at the sight of him. It wasn't any 'love at first sight' kind of nonsense; it was more like a switch had been flipped inside of her.

What did the switch trigger, you ask?

Well, since Koakuma had been suppressing her nature in order to adapt to her largely testosterone-scarce environment when she was summoned and employed at the Mansion, the only thing that that switch could trigger is the restraints on what she held back.

And that would be her nature as a succubus.

Her instincts had been naturally leaking back into her all day, and her thoughts haven't been able to leave the subject of Kamijou Touma for longer than a few minutes.

When she heard her mistress give the order to kill the boy, she knew she simply could not do it. There's just something about him that...triggers her. She doesn't know if she would react the same way if Marisa had brought just any old male you could find anywhere to the Mansion, but in the end, the only person she could direct this feeling to is Kamijou.

She couldn't let such a fine specimen go without tasting him once.

In fact, if she had managed to kiss him to subdue him back in the library, she would probably have found him unremarkable like any other human being and obediently finished him off.

However, until she can get _something_ from him, she has to keep him alive and well.

That is the resolve of the succubus Koakuma.

The fairies Abby and Caitlyn already stated their intention to rescue Kamijou Touma, and the servant Koakuma had done so as well.

But the succubus Koakuma had underlying goals.

If that side of her showed itself while they're conducting this plan, there's no doubt in her mind that the two fairies will stop her.

That's reason three for why she brought them along.

So they could be the ones to suppress her nature when her willpower no longer can.

* * *

 **A/N: 'Involuntary Self-Defense—The Devil's Plot'. I'll leave it to you guys to decide who the 'devil' is here: Remilia or Koakuma.**

 **Speaking of her, I wonder if your opinion of her has changed at all since she was first introduced in this arc. I, for some reason, feel like it might have changed for you all.**

 **And then: Kamijou Touma. I extend my prayers to him, because with everything that was set up between this chapter and last, we can pretty much guarantee that he's going to get hurt again. Especially by Sakuya.**

 **Anyway, on another note, I did finish reading NT 15, and that...that was a doozy. I won't say much about it until next chapter because I want to go through and read it again all the way through (rather than reading it as it was being translated, which limited me to a few chapter parts a day), though.**

 **Also, T-13 days (from April 25th) until Reitaisai 13 (May 8th) and the reveal of the next Touhou game. The hype grows with its approaching proximity.**

 **Well, that's all I have to say here. Until next time.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	10. The Scarlet Devil Incident VI

**A/N: It's been a while, hasn't it guys? Almost a full month, actually. Well, in the end, as long as I can post another chapter, I'm happy, and I guess you guys might be satisfied.**

 **On to the reviews (Thanks for these by the way):**

 **Server lock: No problem, sir/ma'am. Glad I could clear things up for you. Well, yeah, I am responsible for Touma's hardships in this story, but I feel obligated to say sorry or else I'll feel bad.**

 **enigma95: That pretty much sums it up.**

 **Deep Sea Diver Man: I think she's powerful enough to keep the size of the mansion enlarged. Not that she has a reason to all of the time; I think she only does it when she finds it necessary. Now that he's outside, I think that she would decide to return it to normal size.**

 **vharo4111: I think I might like your type of reviews. The pure criticism; I think every author needs a taste of this every once in a while.**

 **-As for the healing, well, a vampire is supernatural by nature. It's not like vampires came about by means of evolution; otherwise Touma wouldn't be able to affect them at all. Because the saliva carries something with a supernatural source, it reaching his right hand would negate the supernatural and just turn it into normal saliva. But in the end, though, you have a solid argument, and whether my way would work depends on how you, the reader, perceive vampires.**

 **Croniklerx: Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Touma managed to negate my author powers and take this story to the 'M' rating. But I won't let that happen, at least because of erotic scenes. Gore is another story.**

 **Guest: I thought I had kept consistent with it...I went back and checked, and I couldn't find any problems. Maybe my mind was clouded by sleep deprivation at the time I checked. I'll go back and do it again.**

 **adv: Well, thankfully everyone except Remilia and the humans-soon-to-be-vampire-food in the basement are out of the mansion by this chapter. All of this will be wrapped up in the next two chapters, too.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Haha...Remilia...yeah...At least you enjoyed Touma and Flandre's relationship development. As for the man himself...well, read on. If you think Touma is in for some misfortune, 9 times out of 10 you won't be wrong.**

 **I'll address the source material at the end. Until then, enjoy chapter 10.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident VI**

* * *

"Wow, this is bad, ze."

Marisa, who had been tailing the fairies, stopped at the open door of the mansion and observed the situation. While it may be against her nature to stop and survey the area before she jumps in, this was a situation of unknown sensitivity. The feeling of unease is something paramount to the amount she felt during the latter half of the escapade Eirin the Lunarian-turned-doctor sent her on a couple months ago.

She had reason to be feeling this way.

For one: the fairies seem to be abnormally riled up. It wasn't as bad as the frenzied fairies during the siege of the Lunar Capital courtesy of the Clownpiece, but it was pretty damn close.

One fairy in particular is causing a major problem, not being demotivated in the least by her countless deaths at the hands of Flandre Scarlet in what seems to be her quest for Kamijou Touma.

The vampire that she's fighting is another problem. Flandre Scarlet is pretty much the only person Marisa wants to avoid in this mansion at the moment because of the unstable situation and Flandre's similarly-unstable psyche, yet here she is, right in the thick of everything. How and why she's even out of her room is a mystery to her.

Another one: Koakuma.

She's on the edge of the chaos, talking seriously with two other fairies, the three of them eyeing the frenzied exchange between the vampire and hyped-up fairy. Marisa has no way of knowing what she's planning to do, but with her alignment as Anti-Kamijou until just recently, it can't be anything good.

She's tempted to go out there and demolish everyone there, good or bad, just to get this over with, but she restrains herself. She'd rather save all of the apologizing for the fairies rather than herself, so she ventures forth to ask the only remaining (relatively) unoccupied character in the field of play: Patchouli Knowledge.

She says 'relatively' because all Patchouli is really doing is stalling the other fairies from being able to join the fray against Flandre and Kamijou.

"'Sup, Patchouli."

The magician in occupation only floats lazily towards the magician belonging to the species of the same name, sending out a few star-shaped bullets haphazardly towards the struggling fairies if only to be polite.

The latter magician in question turns her head towards the blonde girl and scowls, shocking the person it's directed to.

"U-um...did I do somethin'?"

Patchouli's scowl only deepens as she says this cluelessly, and she says "I can't believe you" as she fires off unrestricted elemental-themed danmaku to thin the numbers of the airborne maids.

"Eh?"

"You _do_ see what our situation has evolved into, right?"

Marisa nods. "In one word: disaster."

"Oh, good. You acknowledge it." Patchouli flat-out stops trying to subjugate the fairies and turns fully towards the blonde. "So tell me, why aren't you affected in the slightest? Especially since you are the one responsible for all of this."

"Geh…"

She didn't need to be reminded. She came out here because she wanted to fix it, after all.

"W-well, I just don't think there's any point in gettin' too worked up over it, ze." She floats finally in front of the purple-haired magician and dismounts her broom. "At any rate, could ya give me a summary of what's goin' on now? So I can get my next move straight?"

Patchouli's scowl switches to a look of mild surprise. "Marisa, actually being cautious…" She shakes it off. "Well, to answer your question, the conflict really is between Flandre-san, Kamijou-san, and the fairy maids. Koakuma over there is no longer after Kamijou-san—" She looks at the people in question. "Oh? She's talking to those two fairies—Abby and Caitlyn, is she? And in this situation..." Her focus returns to Marisa. "Well, really, we need to either stop the fairies or secure Kamijou-san. Just go out there and do one of those, and you won't have to worry about anything."

Marisa takes in the information and weighs the two against the situation and her preferences.

She turns towards the recently recovered fairies, who got a break from Patchouli's relentless assault when she was talking to her but are now being subjugated again by a similar assault.

She looks next to Koakuma and the two boss-like fairies discussing something of grim importance, if their expressions are any kind of testament to their moods.

Finally, her eyes rest on the innocent vampire, the overly-excited fairy, and the near-cowering Kamijou. This battlefield is most hectic, and that's because it looks like Flandre has stopped really trying to protect Kamijou and the fairy has stopped gunning for him. Instead, it seems the two of them are now just fighting for the fun of it, if the wild grins on their faces say anything about it. Meanwhile, Kamijou is doing his best to stay out of the whirlwind. She sees him attempt to move away entirely, but the vampire and the fairy's fight drifts along with him, each attack becoming closer and closer than the last.

 _Geh...at this rate, he's gonna get cornered and torn ta pieces, ze._

The fairy is being surprisingly destructive and aggressive, matching Flandre's pace as she's stopped simply destroying the fairy because she realizes it's futile as she'll just resurrect in a few moments and started to fight back wholeheartedly. If this information is taken and held as context for Marisa's above thought, it would be seen as no exaggeration.

Marisa chooses where to start first.

"Well then, Weekly Magician, I know where to start now, ze! Have fun with these small-fry, 'kay?"

Marisa says this and mounts her broom, pointing the stick directly at her target as Patchouli nods in response to her words.

The monochromatic magician rushes toward her destination, light in one hand and heat in the other, both having a singular target.

Orange hair, blue eyes. A wide, wild grin expressing blatant enjoyment. Wings in the form of a vertically incomplete '8'.

A fairy.

A peculiarly strong-seeming one.

As the two combatants gradually herd the MacGuffin boy towards the wall of the mansion, Marisa approaches the fairy with the tip of her broom aimed directly at her ribcage.

The fairy raises her hand and an orange orb manifests itself in her hand. It appears the contents are spinning by the way the non-uniform colors of the orange seem to be in constant motion.

Flandre is poised defensively, awaiting the next attack from the fairy. Her face is brimming with excitement as she fidgets.

Strangely, however, the vampire doesn't have her signature weapon, Lævateinn with her. The weapon is the perfect partner for her with its destructiveness and she is rarely seen without it, so why was it not present now?

Actually, she has a better question, now that she's looked at the trio some.

 _How did she come across Kamijou?_

Marisa returns to the macroverse right as the glowing ball in the fairy's hand changes its behavior, shooting out _onigiri-_ sized balls radially as the sphere starts to increase in size.

It appears the two of them switched from a physical fight to a danmaku duel at some point, which is excellent for Marisa, who isn't the best at hand-to-hand/power/weapon combat. There's positives in the fact that attention is no longer on the human boy, but the downside is also that there's no attention being paid to the human boy, so he can be hit by the wide sweeping attacks or be caught in the crossfire due to their tunnel-vision.

So Marisa has two choices: either hit the fairy and let the boy fend for himself temporarily, or scoop up Kamijou and show him her expert dodging skills when he's weighing her down.

As she reaches within twenty meters of the combatants, something happens that forces her to select an option immediately.

Flandre rushes forward at a devilish speed, bypassing the flurry of bullets in spiral pattern coming at her, and within a second the vampire is face-to-face with her opponent.

However, instead of flinching or otherwise reacting negatively, the fairy instead wears a look as if she were expecting that move, and then Marisa sees the ball of energy above the fairy pulsate erratically as the power becomes unstable.

 _Oh crap!_

Marisa adjusts her flight pattern, shifting her direction to the right about forty-five degrees or so to carry out the latter of the two choices: retrieving Kamijou and making off with him.

Ten meters.

The ball explodes, engulfing the combatants and shooting out an ungodly amount of smaller spheres radially. Kamijou reacts by looking dumfounded at the barrage and searching around himself in a desperate manner, probably to find something to block them with. Unfortunately for him, since the Scarlet Devil Mansion in its entirety is extremely well-kept thanks to the likes of Izayoi Sakuya and Hong Meiling, there will be no such objects conveniently lying around.

Marisa presses the limits of her broom's speed capabilities.

Five meters.

The balls come much, much closer to Kamijou. He realizes his lack of a shield and uses his built-in one instead: his right hand, the Imagine Breaker.

Marisa holds out an arm so as to scoop up the boy.

The light from the blast still hasn't died down, leaving the two combatants still out of the magician and Kamijou's sights.

A single meter.

The projectiles are within range. Kamijou begins to negate as many spheres as possible and moves into the gaps the negated spheres left vacant.

However, the thing about the Imagine Breaker is that it can't handle multiple projectiles at once. This Marisa was able to figure out through her interaction with him in these last two days. He's going to get overwhelmed eventually.

This fact is solidified in the pained expression on his face that briefly intensifies with each contact with the spheres and the uncomfortable sweat on his face.

 _His wrist is still hurtin' him, huh? Well, it's only been an hour or so, after all._

Marisa zips into the bullet hell and manages to make it to the boy, grabbing the boy by his collar as she zips past, and she hears the sound of his surprise and discomfort audible over even the sounds of destruction surrounding them.

"Gah! M-Marisa?! Where did you—"

She interrupts him. "Doesn't matter, ze. Now hurry and climb on; I can't carry you like this!"

She gives him a slight boost as they take off into the sky, using her meager strength to yank him up a bit higher so that he can mount easier.

As he climbs on with pained grunts, she cranes her neck backwards to look for pursuers, if there is any, and sees no one, only the wiped out forms of Flandre and the fairy on the ground as she moves forward.

Marisa turns the broom towards the entrance of the mansion. "Okay, okay, let's get ya outta here, Kamijou."

"Eh?" For some reason, he's surprised as she says that.

"...What?"

"You aren't mad at me anymore?"

Marisa jerks the broom in response to his ridiculous words and turns to look exasperatedly at the boy. "Are you serious? _That's_ what you're worried about?"

He looks down at the chaotic scene below them, not really answering as he seems to be distracted.

The magician presses onward. "You sure ya shouldn't be worried about, I dunno, your life? Ya know, since you're being targeted by a large chunk of the mansion?"

"Maybe so...I just thought you were still angry since, you know, it didn't happen that long ago," he responds as he grips the broom tightly with his left hand; his right hand hanging by his side in a resting state, the wrist red and swollen.

She shakes her head and sighs. "I'm not that petty, ze. I'm not going to forsake you just because you said something...that I…misunderstood..." She trails off, then coughs. "But anyway, um…" Despite her attempt to change the subject, she finds that she doesn't have a topic to do so with. She feels the desire to facepalm because of it.

Thankfully, Kamijou had his own plans.

"W-well, uh…" As she turns around to face him as he speaks, she sees something behind him that forces her to change her course.

"Hang on!"

"What?!"

She jerks the broom to the right as an orange ball rockets past the duo, causing Kamijou to yelp in surprise and pain as he is forced to use his right hand to hang on as well as his left due to the sudden movements.

 _What the hell…?_

Marisa looks at the person responsible for the projectile and finds her _a lot_ closer than she expected.

"Sorry, black-white, but I'll be taking that boy off of your hands~!"

The orange-haired, blue-eyed fairy is within arm's reach of Kamijou, having the same irritatingly cheery attitude from earlier that makes Marisa want to pound her into the ground.

"No thanks, small fry! I can handle him fine by myself, ze!"

The fairy lunges toward the boy and Marisa responds with jerking the broom again and firing a star-shaped projectile at the winged humanoid rigged to explode when it gets close enough to her. She then turns away from her and takes off towards the enormous gates of the mansion.

"Ghk!"

Kamijou grunts in pain, and she can hear him grinding his teeth as he tries to hold back a full-out yell.

Marisa mutters to herself as she speeds up even more with a destination in mind, and looks back to see how Kamijou is covered in an uncomfortable sweat, but despite his obvious discomfort he's scanning the surroundings for threats to their flight from the mansion.

 _Geh…_

In a way, she was at least partially responsible for just about every hardship he's had in Gensoukyou since he's arrived, from the nasty sprain in his wrist to the seizure order on his life. Looking behind her and seeing the suffering boy, she can't help but feel at least a little guilty.

And somehow, despite all that's going on, he doesn't seem to bear any kind of grudge and is only looking forward to his objective. In all honesty, _she_ should have been the one to ask if he wasn't still mad at her.

She grimaces and smacks her teeth as she turns back around to look at where she's going.

"Hey, Marisa~! It's been a while!"

The blonde magician and normal high school boy don't even have time to react to the figure obstructing their path.

"Won't you come and play with me? It's been so long!"

At some point, Flandre Scarlet had gotten in front of them, and it seems her primary intention of ensuring Kamijou's survival has been put on the backburner.

And let her say that she is _close_. She wouldn't be able to slow down in the least before she collides with the smaller vampire. Lord knows if she'll be able to stay on. Or, even worse, if the Imagine Breaker will be able to hold on.

All those thoughts she just had, though, matter not, as all she can do in this situation is act.

And all she can do is attempt to brace herself as the contact comes.

* * *

There is a youkai at the Scarlet Devil Mansion that serves as both the gatekeeper and the gardener for the grounds. She isn't particularly strong, but she is by no means weak thanks to her mastery of the martial arts and control over _chi_ energy.

She is very laid-back, and occasionally takes siestas on the job, which gets her hankered at by either the head maid Izayoi Sakuya or her employer and mistress Remilia Scarlet, but she does take her job very seriously, and, contrary to popular belief, is very good at what she does.

Her name is Hong Meiling, and perhaps because of the people she lives and works with, she's seen some stuff in her life.

As such, when she ventured to look inside the gate at the grounds of the Mansion to see what all of the commotion was, her expression was not one of surprise, but of calm resignation.

Today had been an extraordinary day for the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but strictly by its professional denotation, not positive connotation. First, she had been told by Patchouli Knowledge earlier in the day to expect the presence of Kirisame Marisa and an Outsider guest, which shocked her on two fronts.

One is the fact that she's willingly letting Marisa into the Mansion, which, while not unheard of, is definitely somewhat of a rarity.

Two is the fact that there was an Outsider included in those permissible. Free Outsiders are nearly impossible to find, since the only business an Outsider normally has in the Scarlet Devil Mansion is either as one of her vampire mistresses' meals or the younger vampire's plaything.

Well, of course, nowadays, only the first one was true, since Flandre no longer accepted any live, humanoid toys.

She hadn't paid much mind to the peculiar events though, only thought 'Oh, that's peculiar' in passing and continued to do her job.

Eventually, the two that were spoken of turned up during her break time, or more specifically, at the end of her break time, at almost one o'clock P.M. when she was only just waking up from her unusually-long midday nap. She had borne witness to the duo flying overhead and had thought to give them a greeting as they passed, but decided not to because suddenly reaching out to them when they most likely think that she's asleep would have startled them out of the sky.

After they had passed, there was around forty-five minutes of unchanging peace and quiet until Patchouli's servant and her colleague, Koakuma exited through the front doors and loitered around there, seeming to be waiting for something.

After some time listening to her mutter to herself about 'fairies' and 'kill orders', she was able to discern that she was waiting for a some _one_ , rather than a some _thing_.

And this someone was a boy by the name of Kamijou. She can deduce that the person that this name belongs to is the Outsider that entered with Marisa. What she is waiting for him for, however, is a bit of a mystery.

Some of it was cleared up with the appearance of the boy and his two companions, Patchouli and Flandre, and even more so with the appearance of the battalion of fairies that poured out of the mansion chasing after the Outsider with Marisa trailing on their heels, but Meiling is still pretty much in the dark about this whole ordeal.

As of now, Patchouli is releasing her powerful barrages of magic upon the mass of fairies, Flandre and an orange-haired fairy who was previously battling the vampire are now targeting Marisa and the Outsider, and Koakuma and two other fairies are headed in the direction of the aforementioned four.

Only one word can describe the scene before the martial-arts-using youkai, and that is 'chaotic'. And dissonantly, a word that can describe Meiling's demeanor is 'relaxed'.

Deciding that the more important group to be watching is Marisa's, she spectates from the ground, analyzing the following events carefully.

This can be divided into three sections.

First, Marisa and the boy seem to be bickering, as Marisa keeps turning around on the broom to look at him. It seems fairly serious, if the range of emotions on the two's faces (especially the magician's) is any indication.

Observations on the magician: slightly…distressed, but otherwise healthy physically.

Observations on the Outsider: unexpectedly calm, but his right arm is hanging limp by his side. There's nothing that suggests he can't move it, but it seems like he'd rather not.

Then again, she can't exactly see clearly from down on the ground.

Next, Marisa turns around yet again a few seconds after the orange-haired fairy fires a projectile at her, and she jerks out of the way. The boy tries for a moment to hold on with just his left hand, but seems to be forced to use his right two, which makes his body language express the massive amount of pain he's in by going rigid.

 _Okay, so the Outsider can move it, but there's something terribly wrong with his arm if doing that makes it hurt that badly._

The magician looks at the fairy responsible as the fairy reaches the duo and says something, and the girl says something back to her before dodging a lunge from the fairy and firing a star-shaped projectile at the fairy, which exploded upon contact with the fairy.

Again, the boy's body goes rigid and his face contorts in pain in response to having to hold on tighter because of Marisa's high-speed maneuver. However, within seconds, the boy seems to regain most of his composure and starts to search for something. Perhaps other threats, since their inattentiveness is what put him into all of that recent pain.

Observations on the fairy: an overly excited look in her eyes shows that she's lost herself in her objective, further augmented by her apparent love of combat shown by her taking on a vampire with intentions only to fight, not to win.

Third and finally, a red blur passes by them as they're looking elsewhere, stopping in their path in the form of the same young vampire.

Marisa turns around a moment too late, and despite the fact that if she were composed she could have easily avoided her, she does nothing but brace for contact because of her shock.

She collides with the vampire, removing herself from her broom as she loses balance and reaches to grab onto Flandre, who seems to not expect this as she flails about in surprise, trying to get her off.

But a more pressing matter is the human boy, who loses his seat on the broom and is reduced to hanging from it to stay alive. He starts off with two hands, but since that obviously hurts him too much, he switches to only his left, but a flailing Flandre manages to jostle Marisa enough that her legs flail and hit the broom, making him start to lose his grip.

Observations on the young vampire: seems absorbed in the prospect of combat, and is incredibly excited at the appearance of Marisa, who Meiling remembers to have given Flandre the fight of her life during the Scarlet Mist Incident. However, because she had exited into the courtyard with the Outsider and Patchouli and was practically clinging to him, she has to assume that she's fairly attached to the boy as well. If that's the case, then she can't fathom why she would endanger that boy too, but maybe she just didn't notice him because of her affection for the black-and-white magician.

Meiling sighs.

"At this rate, I feel like the courtyard might end up destroyed…"

The Chinese youkai complains as she looks on. She wants to step in and do something, but her job doesn't involve work inside the gates unless she's called inside. If she tends to the situation inside the gates, it's possible someone might sneak in during the chaos.

Yes, the most responsible thing to do would be to remain at her post and either wait to be called or let things resolve on their own.

Sighting again, she turns around and faces forward so as to not let the ongoing battle distract her.

"Trying to resist joining, are you, Meiling-san?"

Meiling looks up to where the voice came from and sees a girl in a short-sleeved 'French' Maid outfit (what's 'French'? The girl never answered her about that…), black leggings and red shoes with dark blue eyes and silver hair tied into long braids on both sides of her head tipped with green bow on the ends, and she wears a white maid's headband on her head.

"Ehh…maybe so, Sakuya-san."

The head maid floats down to the ground, standing at eye level with the youkai of taller stature in comparison with the rest of Gensoukyou.

"So what's going on? Some kind of incident?"

The maid shakes her head. "Not exactly."

Meiling looks at the girl in her eyes as she says this because she can sense something wrong. Guardedly, she asks this: "So what is it, then?"

"A large scale battle."

 _Well, yeah, that much I can see…_

"Well, what's at stake?"

Sakuya's normally indifferent expression changes to a much darker one. "That Outside boy's life," she says as she points at the boy dangling from the broom.

"Um…did he do something…?" The boy looks innocent enough: what possibly could he have done to have deserve that treatment?

Sakuya nods slowly. "Oh, he did. It was something so bad that Remilia-sama requested that I bring her his head."

 _Remilia-sama did?_

"Hmm…well, if the order was only given to you, why is the whole mansion in chaos?"

Meiling asks this for clarification on this matter, since logically the only way everyone would be involved like this is if Sakuya would request for the other maids', Patchouli's, Koakuma's, and Flandre's help. But if that indeed happened, then that would mean either some of them had a change of heart or simply betrayed.

Well, there's also the chance that the Outsider gathered his own allies while Sakuya was handing out orders.

But then again, this is all speculation. Sakuya's upcoming answer will answer her questions.

"Because different sides have been developing this whole time. Koakuma-san got the original order to kill him from Remilia-sama, but she decided against her wishes to instead try and help him escape, during which she enlisted the help of the fairy maids." Sakuya looks over the field of battle, specifically at Koakuma and then to Patchouli. "From what I could tell from the mistress, her and Patchouli-san were searching for Koakuma to revoke the kill order but instead came across the Outsider, who had befriended Flandre-sama at some point in time and was traveling with her. From there, the two of them split up, where Remilia-sama found me and Patchouli-san joined with those two. Remilia-sama told me to take the boy's head, since she had no intention of revoking the order form the start."

 _Okay, so that at least establishes the sides,_ Meiling thinks as she scratches her head, still lacking some understanding.

Where Marisa comes in is something she's unclear about, as well as why the fairies are still in a frenzy when it seems no one in the courtyard has the intention to take the boy's life, or even why there is a conflict at all, but Meiling disregards it.

She doesn't even really need to know _why_ they're fighting.

She just needs to know if she needs to get involved or not. She _is_ a servant after all; if someone in authority says the word, she'd gladly jump into the fray.

That doesn't mean she doesn't get curious though. While she doesn't _need_ to know, she does _want_ to know at least why Remilia-sama wants the boy dead.

And so, she asks.

"Hey, Sakuya-san."

The maid looks at her questioningly, asking what she wants without words.

"What did that Outsider do to get that kind of reaction out of Remilia-sama?"

At this, the maid's expression darkens so much that it scares Meiling, cluing her in to the severity of his crime, so much so that she's afraid the maid might hurt her just for asking about it.

Thankfully, her fears remained in her mind, as the maid answers without brandishing a weapon.

As she listens to the offense, she wholly approves of the maid's emotional state; what that boy did is really, truly heinous… _if he even did it_.

You see, what Meiling pulled from that was exaggeration. The explanation sounds too unreal too be entirely true. The reason why Remilia wouldn't just tell the truth is something lost to her, especially since she can at least see a basis for the exaggeration: the boy touched her inappropriately in some way, in some circumstance. Perhaps the vampire exaggerated to spark more of a reaction in Sakuya and her?

But then again, if she's noticed it, Sakuya has to have, as well. She's far more perceptive than the Chinese youkai is.

Again, though: it's not like any of that matters. They're servants, tasked with fulfilling their mistress' orders. It doesn't matter if they suspect something is up; they just have to do what they're told.

That's just how it is.

"So…shall I get involved?"

Meiling asks this final question to determine if she needs to leave her post, already expecting the answer to come.

"If you wish. The quicker we get him, the better."

From this moment until the moment his head is taken, the Outsider is going to experience hell in its purest form. It's only fitting.

They are servants of the Devil, after all.

* * *

His grip wavered.

His hold faltered.

Flandre Scarlet knocked up against the airborne broom once again in her struggle with Marisa, and that little bit was the push needed to make him lose his handhold entirely and begin a perilous descent to the ground.

"OOOOHHHHH!"

Kamijou flails his arms as he tries to reach something, the air rushing past his ears blowing his hair into a frenzy and adding to the noises of combat from Flandre, Marisa, Patchouli, and the fairy maids.

He looks for a way to stop his descent, but there is none as he is in the middle of the courtyard, meaning that his options are left in the form of either landing wildly and moderately-to-severely injuring himself (while he _is_ falling pretty far, it shouldn't be enough to kill him), or landing in a controlled fashion and tucking into a forward roll. Of course, this won't always work and, if not done properly, can hurt both ankles and/or knees and prevent him from escaping anywhere, turning this day into a complete and utter failure, and possibly his final one.

There is, however, another thing he can do that can increase his chances at survival.

He looks around to find a person eligible for this plan, and sees his target through watering eyes.

"Patchouli-san! Help me out here!"

He yells this almost thirty meters away from the magician, and after a brief delay and seeming like she's questioning if she heard right, she turns from her fairy slaughter and eventually lands eyes on the human's falling figure, during which he waves at her to beckon for assistance.

He sees her move her mouth and shake her head and then take her right hand and hold it to her chest, bobbing her head towards him in the process.

 _What is she…_

It doesn't look like it will stop his descent, so maybe she's trying to tell him something?

He mimics the motion with his own, seeing if that can help him understand.

After he does that, however, he sees turbulent blue rushing up to meet him.

"Wah?!"

He shoves his hand downward instinctively at the rising geyser of water, and the instant it reaches him he resists the urge to scream as it contacts his hand, putting strain on his wrist that really doesn't need any more exposure to anything and negating the pillar, making it dissolve into the air.

He turns his head to look at Patchouli to question what that was, and then he realizes as he sees the exasperation clear as day in her mannerisms despite his distance from her.

 _That was her doing, wasn't it…?_

Kamijou mentally smacks himself for his acquired propensity to fling his right hand at things he suspects are supernatural and hopes he can convey the message 'do it again' with a desperate stare in her direction.

The magician girl seems to sigh as she interprets his nonverbal plea and holds her hand out towards him in what will likely be another magical attempt to help him, and lo and behold, he eventually starts to slow down in his descent.

The only problem is that it had nothing to do with Patchouli. The magician hadn't even begun to do her trademark muttering that Kamijou had come to recognize as her preparation for a spell and there were no flashy lights to speak of on her or on him, so it's obvious that it had nothing to do with her.

This is further confirmed by the sensation of hands under his arms, the flapping of wings, and the feminine scent of perfume wafting into his nose.

 _T-this smell…_

It was vaguely familiar. He had smelled it at some point in the mansion, and it definitely wasn't the scent that was coming from Koakuma in the library. It was…tamer, and had less quality. Perhaps this could be considered the cheaper substitute to a popular and expensive perfume.

He cranes his neck behind him…

"A-a fairy?!"

This wasn't the fairy that had attacked him and Flandre there in the courtyard, but rather the fairy that had confronted the two of them inside the expansive mansion corridors.

Black hair flapping in the wind, glasses looking like they're struggling to remain at their post covering her purple eyes, four-pronged wings flapping so quickly it's a miracle they haven't caught fire…

"Yes, yes, a fairy." This girl speaks with a monotonous tone as she grips tightly under his arm, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead as she works to slow his fall.

"A fairy indeed. However, we do have names, Outsider."

Another voice comes from his other side, likely belonging to the pair of hands gripping under his other arm.

He whips his head around to look at the other person responsible for his rescue: a fairy with bright blue eyes, long sky-blue hair, and curved wings moving at similar incredible speeds to her partner, reminding him of dragonflies or hummingbirds because of the repetition. She has a dissonantly serene expression on her face, especially in regards to the situation that makes him mildly uneasy.

The serene fairy opens her mouth to speak. "I am Caitlyn, and my stoic partner here is Abby. We will be your escorts to stable ground."

' _Escorts to stable ground,' she says…_

Kamijou is perhaps understandably wary of these two fairies, since all of them seem to be out to get him for some reason. He knows that at least the black-haired fairy—Abby, she was called by the other fairy—was affiliated with Koakuma along with her squadron of fairies when he met her inside, but that was before the little devil had been disarmed by Patchouli, so he's truly confused as to why the majority of them are still attacking.

This all makes him wonder if Koakuma's truly stopped trying to take his head.

But then again, these fairies at least seem friendly enough, now. It's entirely possible that he's just being paranoid by now and they really are just his 'escorts to stable ground'.

Regardless of his thoughts, though, he can't exactly struggle against them in the air. All he'll accomplish is a temporary sense of freedom punctuated by a splat against the ground.

As such, there's only one appropriate thing left to do before reaching the ground.

"And I'm Kamijou. I'll be in your care," he says through slowly-calming breaths. His heart is really beating a mile-a-minute here because of his fall. But finally, his descent has slowed and he's being lowered safely to the ground, which gives him time to collect himself and then decide on a next course of action.

Well, really, nothing has changed in regards to an objective. His goal is to get out of the mansion, though the reason has changed by now from 'to save his life' to 'stop this chaos'. Since, from what he can tell, there's no one left really after his life with the disarming of Koakuma by the joint cancellation order from Patchouli and Remilia, which means the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion no longer desires his death either. That means that everything transpiring in this courtyard is nothing but a miscommunication or misunderstanding on the part of the fairies.

Of course, that begs the question of why Koakuma hasn't retracted the request for his retrieval from the fairies, but he's sure there's a reason why.

Actually, allow him to revise what was previously said; _most_ of everything transpiring in the courtyard is a misunderstanding by the fairies. As he looks above him, towards the light show that is the three-way battle between Marisa, Flandre, and that orange-haired fairy, he realizes that not all of the chaos is being caused by the fairies; by now Flandre is also absorbed in the idea of combat as well, leaving Marisa to fend for herself being the only 'sensible' person in the matchup.

As the one-third testosterone trio reaches the ground, Kamijou asks, "Will Marisa-san be okay…?"

The two fairies let go of him and look up towards the fireworks display as well.

"Well, this is Marisa Kirisame we're talking about. I'd be more surprised if she didn't come out of there fine," Abby says, voicing her opinion on the matter, and Caitlyn nods in agreement.

 _Marisa-san's really that strong, huh?_

"But really, this development couldn't be any better, could it, Abby-chan?"

The calm fairy says this, sparking caution in the human boy.

The stoic fairy casts a glance her way, then looks to Kamijou. "I suppose it is. And before you start to freak out, Kamijou-san, allow us to explain."

He waits patiently for their explanation for them to dispel his worries, but in all honesty just the fact that they offered to explain is enough for him to calm down.

"You see, Kamijou-san, we need to get rid of the disaster that this courtyard has become, and that comes with first dealing with the rest of the restless fairies," Caitlyn begins to explain in her calm voice that is slowly having an effect on Kamijou's own fretful mood. "The fairies are still after you," she motions to the fairies that are being shot down quickly as they move towards the one-third human trio, "And won't stop until they see you in the presence of Koakuma-san, either through their means or her own."

Abby picks up where she left off. "So, we decided to have her come to you, so that the others stop freaking out."

 _Have her come to me…?_

"Okay, I think I get it…but to be clear, you guys are not doing this so that Koakuma can have her way with me, right?" By this point, he doesn't even really doubt them, but is more doing a systematic check. After his escapades with Leivinia Birdway back in the Outside World, he's realized that it doesn't exactly hurt to double check.

Abby waves a hand in front of her face and has a look in her eyes that says 'perish the thought!'. "Not at all. This is only to make sure things don't get even more chaotic and fairies don't start to chase you out of the mansion."

Kamijou, satisfied with this answer and what this plan overall will achieve—the cessation of the fairies' rowdy activity in the courtyard which will prevent any unnecessary injury, now again voices a question.

"So where is Koakuma-san?"

To answer this, Abby points towards his right, which is where Patchouli is located in her valiant efforts to restrict the fairies without destroying the grounds of the mansion.

Kamijou turns his head, and coming from her direction, Koakuma is flying with three fairies in tow. Behind her, Patchouli locks eyes with him and nods, as if to say everything is fine.

"She's coming with the messengers," Caitlyn elaborates as they draw near, turning to face the succubus servant. "They'll relay the message that the mission has been completed. Or rather, failed, in their perspective, since they aren't the ones bringing you to her."

Abby raises and eyebrow at that statement and looks at the calm fairy. "But wait, wouldn't it be considered a success? We're fairies too, after all."

The two fairies look at each other, a silence hanging in the air as Kamijou wonders what's happening.

"Well, that's one-hundred-percent better than what it would have been," Abby says, breaking the silence, and at the same time Koakuma arrives at the scene and looks Kamijou right in the eye.

For some reason, the eye contact makes him mildly uncomfortable, which he responds to by swallowing the saliva that is starting to pool in his mouth. Perhaps the uncomfortableness can be attributed to the extremely focused look in her eye, like she can't afford to allow distractions or something of the like.

However, this is averted as she throws her eyes towards the ground, turning her gaze away and she starts to walk forward and lightly brushes his shoulder with a wing as she walks behind him, towards the two fairies located there.

"Okay, you three can see that I'm with him now courtesy of Abby and Caitlyn, right? Then that means the mission's been accomplished. Tell the others that it's all over, okay?" Koakuma says all of this in a hurried fashion from her location behind him, and from the volume of her voice she isn't even facing towards him and the other three fairies of no nominal importance, who have stopped a meter or two in front of him.

Those three fairies in question, without saying much, turn around and return to the group of fairies being massacred by Patchouli and look to say something, and eventually all of those fairies start to slow their movements, prompting the magician to slow her attacks, until eventually everything near the ground comes to a standstill.

"That…worked incredibly well," comments Abby in what Kamijou has come to realize is probably her default tone, and he turns around in response, where he was just in time to see Caitlyn once again nod in agreement.

"It did indeed…" The calm fairy apparently felt the need to voice her agreement as well, but begins to trail off as her eyes fall on Koakuma's face.

"Eh?" Kamijou scrutinizes the girl along with Caitlyn, and soon Abby does the same. He notices a red tint on the tips of her pointed ears, and immediately concern grows within his heart.

"Erm, Koakuma-san? Are you feeling ok—" He stops himself short of finishing the question because of the little devil's violent flinch.

 _Was that because of me…?_

He can't think of anything that could make someone flinch that hard besides possibly trauma, and he's sure that rather than her being traumatized by him, it should be the other way around.

He tries to call out to the now-trembling devil again, but finds that she's instead unresponsive instead of simply flinching, seeming to ignore him.

Most people would take that as a hint to leave her alone, but Kamijou is another story. If he sees someone in need, even if it is a stranger, he won't hesitate to help even if they don't seem to want it. Koakuma is no exception to that.

He moves to get a better view of her face and sees her face is incredibly flush, to the point where the only plausible reason he can see for it would be a high fever.

Obviously, the only course of action would be to check if she has one.

"H-hey, Koakuma-san, are you feeling sick?" He asks, and presses a hand against her forehead to feel for a fever.

 _Hmm…it doesn't feel like it…_

After a few seconds, he pulls his hand away, not noticing that the girl had seized up from the sudden contact, and begins thinking of possible reasons why she would be reacting like she is.

"Kamijou-san, i-isn't it about time you leave?" Abby starts to try and usher him out of the courtyard as she looks at her severely discombobulated friend as she does so, which confuses Kamijou.

"Wait, Abby-san! What about Koakuma-san? I think she might need to go see a doctor!" Kamijou protests and pulls away from her to go and help Koakuma reach the most doctor-like person he's seen so far at the mansion—Patchouli Knowledge, but something happens that stops him in his tracks.

All noise stops.

All colors seem to become muted.

Everything comes to a standstill.

"W-what…?"

Kamijou stops and turns around in a circle, taking in the surroundings.

No movement.

"What is this…?"

In reality, he's pretty sure he knows what this is, but he can't help but ask the question. Maybe he wants some confirmation for his fears, maybe he wants to just hope everyone will start to move again and play all of this off as a joke. Maybe he wants to hurry up and have the one responsible show up and name themselves and their business.

Of course, it's also possible he wants to delay the shattering of his illusion of safety, of finality in this particular incident.

And, of course, his illusion comes to be broken much quicker than he would have liked.

"Hmm…Interesting…"

This feminine voice assaults his ears in the abnormally-silent landscape from behind and it sends a chill down his spine.

He turns around quickly to face the owner of the voice, and when his eyes fall upon the person, he remembers something Patchouli told him after she saved him from Koakuma in the library.

' _Try not to be seen. In the event Remilia gets out of here, she'll likely send that maid after you. If she finds you, your life is forfeit.'_

The maid Patchouli was referring to is right here in front of him, clad in a French maid uniform and has silver hair and dark blue eyes. He eyes a small knife holster above her left knee cautiously.

"Who are you?"

Out of his mouth flies this question directed at her, asked more to get a name than anything else, since he can at least grasp that she's a maid of this mansion, possibly the highest-standing one, from what he can tell from her demeanor.

She puts a hand on her hip as she looks at him with a calm expression. "I'm not obligated to answer you, Outsider."

"Tch…"

 _So forward…_

He feels a nervous sweat start to form on his skin as he looks forward, being caused by the unnatural standstill that the world has come to that makes him feel like they're the last two left on this Earth, as well as the obvious aura of malicious intent coming from the maid.

He feels a showdown is imminent, and if the words Patchouli spoke of in the library are to be believed, he won't last very long; that's for certain. Not to mention that he has no idea what she can do, which will end up making him face off against her much more defensively than his lack of offensive ability normally makes him fight.

If possible, he'd like to avoid facing those uneven odds, or even better, avoid fighting entirely, and the only way he can do that is to placate her with words.

And despite his doubts on whether she'll even listen, he begins to speak.

"Hey, um, Maid-san, I don't know why exactly you're attacking me, but can't we try to talk this out?"

She raises an eyebrow. "I don't see why I should, after what you did to my mistress."

"Geh…"

It appears that she's heard about what happened through some means, whether she was an undetected witness, heard it from Remilia, or other ways. And that makes things a lot more dangerous than they already are. He knows that if he were a servant and someone did to his master or mistress what he did to Remilia, he'd be extremely outraged.

However, he should still be safe, since Remilia has retracted her request for the retrieval of his life. Unless this maid wants to face major consequences, she shouldn't make a move.

Of course, she might not know about that, so he has to take it upon himself to inform her lest she begins trying to turn him into a corpse.

And so…

"W-well, it appears you've heard of what happened between me and your mistress in the library…" He trails off as his train of thought is temporarily halted due to the tension of the scenario, and the maid takes this as a chance to respond.

"Yes, yes I did. And I think nothing less than your life will serve as proper compensation," she says with a cold tone in response to his faulted attempt to feed her information.

 _Again, so forward!_

"P-please, wait a minute! I know something indecent happened because of my misfortune, but she said she didn't want me killed!"

The maid raises an eyebrow in skepticism.

It was a sign that she doubts him but will still give him a chance, which makes him internally smile at the chance of a peaceful resolution, which is something that more or less eludes him whenever he does, well… _anything_.

"Yes! It's true! She had originally sent Koakuma-san to do kill me, but she recalled the order because she had a change of heart or something!"

Perhaps he raised his voice a bit as he explained, but can he really be blamed? His life is on the line in a situation where he can absolutely, positively reverse it! He has an actual chance at escaping with little-to-no injury; he'll be damned if that didn't make him excited at the prospect. He doesn't even know if there's a hospital in Gensoukyou, and if there is, if its technology will be enough to handle his normal level of injury after incidents, so this is reassuring in its solidity as well.

Her face doesn't change, just like their muted surroundings.

"And why should I believe you, the Outsider on my mistress's property?"

Kamijou flinches when she says this because of how right it is. Trusting a stranger with the words of the one she serves? That's just so…wrong, on so many levels. Any good servant would be a bit suspicious.

Thankfully, he has someone to back him up, and isn't alone with this information. And this person was the one he got the information from.

He motions towards the robe-clad magician and says, "Just ask Patchouli-san! She'll tell you."

Her expression reverts to it's unreadable, businesslike state as she seems to simply stare the boy down, making him extremely uneasy as he can't tell what she'll do next.

Gulping, he stares back, trying to detect any warning signs of attack from her, and seconds pass before anything happens.

Slowly, but surely, the standstill accelerates back into normal motion, punctuated by six soft thumps in rapid succession and in all seriousness the sudden return of life to the landscape makes him feel ready to hurl. He puts his left hand to his stomach as if it will steady himself.

By this point, the maid telling him what her power is would be pointless. After seeing what just happened, there's only one thing it could be, as crazy as it seems.

This is something he's only seen in dreams and fiction in the Outside World; he still has yet to come across anyone who was capable of that.

…

Okay, he supposes Othinus in her complete form would have been capable of it, since she did destroy the world and all, but the point is that this is something he has yet to see before this moment.

And that is the power to stop time.

Or perhaps it's not limited to just that; maybe manipulation in general?

"You had better not be lying."

She begins walking forward.

"I'm not! Honest! Ask Patchouli-san!"

Again he refers to the magician as he tries to urge her that way, and after a few seconds and a couple of meters of distance closed by the girl, it looks like it succeeds, since she moves her course to instead go a bit to his left rather than through him to reach Patchouli.

Kamijou exhales as the tension is relieved exponentially because of the maid leaving.

 _That was a close one…Now, back to Koakuma-san._

A few feet to his right is Koakuma, directly behind him is Abby, and behind Koakuma, almost obscured from view, is Caitlyn. He turns to the first and asks, "Are you okay", but he gets no response.

Wait, that's not completely right.

The problem isn't in the fact that she did not respond; it's the state that she's in right now.

On the ground, appearing to be sleeping peacefully, is Koakuma with a blue-handled knife protruding from the ground.

Instantly, he goes on high alert.

"Koakuma-san!"

He rushes to her side and takes her pulse, which is thankfully present and healthy enough for him to be satisfied. From what he can tell, she has no visible wounds despite the presence of the knife, which confuses him to no end.

"Did the person responsible mess up or something…?"

A knife near her and no stab wounds means that the weapon was possibly used in a way that it wasn't intended to. Maybe…using the handle to render her unconscious?

After being satisfied with that, Kamijou now looks toward the two fairies that had accompanied him, finding a similar scene with the two of them. But with the state that Koakuma's in, he can say that he's not as worried about them as he was with her.

Still cautious, he checks the pulses on those two and inspects them for wounds, finding them to be largely unharmed, just like their succubus friend.

And now that their safety has been assured, he has time to address the main question in his mind.

 _Who did this?_

He thinks back to his memories of the day to see if he remembers anyone with a knife on them since the day started, and after a few moments, he remembers.

 _That maid…!_

He remembers that, on her right leg above the knee, there was a small leather knife holster.

He whips around towards her and Patchouli, where she went to confirm what he said about his life being spared, and finds…

No one.

Well, at least not who he's looking for. The fairies are there regrouping after their massacre by the purple-haired magician, but there's no sign of her or the maid.

 _She must have gone off with the maid!_

If that maid, who works at the mansion, is willing to attack her own colleagues just like that, wouldn't that make her just as willing to attack Patchouli, as well?

"Damn it!"

He begins to go off to find them, but as a passing thought, wonders if the knives have some kind of magic about them that rendered the fairy-devil trio unconscious, and he doubles back to touch the closest one, the one beside Abby, with his right hand, but nothing happens, thankfully.

He releases a sigh in relief and turns back towards Patchouli's previous location…

"Sorry, but I've gotta do my job, Outsider."

He hears these words and gets a face-full of the rainbow.

* * *

 **A/N: TASTE THE RAINBOW, KAMIJOU TOUMA!**

 **And that's another chapter wrapped up. I'm sure you can tell who just threw Skittles in Touma's face, at least if you're familiar with the classic Touhou trilogy. Or if you've played Hisoutensoku.**

 **Well, in this chapter, Sakuya got Meiling on her side and overall chaos ensued. Especially in the form of Flandre and Emily, holy moly. Will Marisa _REALLY_ be okay?**

 **And now to address the source material: I goofed up.**

 **After I posted last chapters, I had read up a bit on Reitaisai and learned that ZUN-sensei is taking a break this year. No new game for us until 2017, unfortunately. Well, I do understand. He's got a wife and kid(s) to take care of, after all. I wish them all the happiness.**

 **And as for NT 15...that was a ride. I must say, before I say anything else about this, that I absolutely _love_ Salome. She's only been in one novel, and she's already shot up into my favorite character list. I'm curious on how she ended up in the end of the novel, though: did she make it or not? If not, I promise I'll cry.**

 **And so, I started out the novel kind of indifferent about Kakeru and digging this whole school life thing. Then by the middle I desired his death. And by the end, I guess he's pretty cool. The bastard's finally realized his worth and things are about to pick up in a new direction. I get the feeling next novel will end up as a retrieval quest by him and his Faction as the side plot.**

 **Next, Biribiri...Her going off of the deep end has all but traumatized me, and is leaving me excited and terrified for the next novel. Hopefully she isn't too far gone.**

 **Lastly, we have Aleister Crowley, Kihara Yuiitsu, and Laura Stuart. My eyes shot out of my skull at the former's appearance at the end, expressing his dominance over Yuitsu despite her new-found power. His plan will undoubtedly lead to the most hype I've possibly ever experienced.**

 **His last line, though, absolutely killed me. To quote: _"What do you think you're looking at, you bitch? Do you want me to curse you to death right this instant?" -_ Aleister to Laura Stuart.**

 **And her response: _"Hm."_ ... _"That confirms it."_**

 **Words cannot describe my hype at that moment. I think I actually had to stop reading for like, an hour to cope.**

 **But that concludes my thoughts on NT 15. I suppose since I said something about the TMnI side of things, I might as well address the latest release for the Touhou literature that I've been able to read: the second chapter of Visionary Fairies in Shrine.**

 **In a couple of words: LAMEST. PRANK. EVER.**

 **Really. The turnout was kind of lame, through no fault of Sunny, Luna, Star, and Clownpiece. It's just that with trying to induce madness in a group of super-powered individuals who deal with crazy happenings on the regular, simply driving one of them insane isn't enough to spark a big reaction. Nice try, though. Hardcore drunk Youmu is fun to see.**

 **As for Clownpiece living under the Hakurei Shrine: just what happened in Hell to make her come to Gensoukyou? Did she have a falling-out with Junko and Hecatia, or did she just get bored of the unfriendly landscape? (I know this goes back to chapter one, but no biggie, right?) She never elaborated in chapter one; just said she didn't want to talk about it. Hopefully we'll find out soon.**

 **Also, I've put up a poll on my page: Who's your favorite stage 1 character from the Windows Era? Let me know on that and/or in reviews, if you want.**

 **That's all for that. I'll leave you guys here; hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	11. The Scarlet Devil Incident VII

**A/N: Alright, remember how I said in the last author's note that things would be wrapped up in the next two chapters? Well now I'm not so sure about that. There's enough content that I think I may have to put it into three.**

 **More thoughts about this chapter at the bottom. These chapters are getting longer and longer, huh?**

 **Reviews (Thanks for these by the way. I really appreciate it):**

 **This person (I guess) doesn't want to sign in, so I will call them the 'Corrector': I'll deal with all those corrections probably around the time the next 'Between the Lines' chapter goes up.**

 **Small Notice: Alright, looks like word choice screwed some things up there. And yes, I know about the true Magic Gods and all, but keep in mind this takes place just after NT 10, so he doesn't know anything about them yet. Othinus really is the most powerful being Touma has seen so far.**

 **Guest (May 22): Yes, yes he does. Otherwise he's going to get his ass handed to him. And meh, I won't blame Kakeru for acting like he does; he has a more realistic mindset compared to Touma (at least in my eyes), and at the very least I get where he's coming from. Maybe you won't hate him as much in the next volume. As for Salome changing sides...well, as much as I wouldn't mind that, I don't see it being possible.**

 **neogoki: 'Even', you say? Her being an expert martial artist isn't just fanon; it's canon as well. But I digress; Meiling is the the one opponent he can best deal with, since she's horrible at danmaku and much prefers to settle things with her fist. Everyone else just throws walls of bullets because that's their go-to method of fighting.**

 **Server lock: That's an interesting question, really. I've never thought much about that; perhaps it would, but that type of unfair ability is just...uh, wouldn't that just make him physically immortal? Because in that case, when the Imagine Breaker was within other objects or people, it would have just reconstructed/resurrected said objects or people and continued existing in them...but heck, I don't rule it out as impossible.**

 **enigma95: I actually already have something of that nature planned, but you won't be seeing it for a while.**

 **Croniklerx: Haha, death by Snu-snu. I doubt Koakuma will really kill him though, intentionally or accidentally. And to go so far as to call it Gensoukyou's Kamijou Faction...I wouldn't call them that yet. But indeed, how will they deal with scary maid Sakuya.  
And then there's poor old Niang-Niang and Noukan...*sigh* At least there's the possibility of seeing Noukan again. As for that Jiangshi...well, we can only dream. I do feel like we'll be seeing Nephthys again.**

 **But enough of this. There's a 12k+ word chapter for you guys to be reading. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident VII**

* * *

"GAHH!"

Kamijou barely manages to hold his hand up to block the rainbow-colored blast before it reaches him, meaning that the attack hit his hand on the side of it and twists it enough to send pain throughout his whole arm, causing him to shriek like a little girl, or at least a very young boy.

As the attack disperses, he looks for the person who attacked him. Their voice was relatively close when he heard it before the blow came, so he shouldn't have to look far.

He wasn't wrong.

"Kh—!"

Kamijou ducks when he sees the fist flying towards him, and it passes over his head safely. He then lowers his shoulder and throws his weight forward in order to take his assailant down, and he catches the person right in their stomach.

However, they don't go down as expected, as instead of toppling over and hitting the ground he hears a foot skid against the stone walkway of the grounds and a womanly grunt.

 _This person must be pretty strong…_

The fact that his assailant took the full brunt of his body weight like that means that their pretty well built, or that their foundation is strong. Perhaps they are a martial artist of some sort.

And if that is the case, he does not want to leave himself open to a strike. If this person is a professional, they could likely end this fight without him having a chance to fight back with a well-placed punch.

With this in mind, he lets his aching right arm go limp again and pushes off of the opponent with his left hand, him backpedaling backward with the momentum until there is substantial distance between the two of them.

Now, with this distance between them, he's finally able to get a good look at his opponent.

"C-China-san?!"

The red-haired Chinese youkai looks at Kamijou with a relaxed expression, as if he were an old friend despite the two of them not having officially met.

"Yes, yes, that's what they call me, even though my name's Meiling. Hong Meiling."

She says this to him and then cocks an eyebrow. "And what's your name, Outsider?"

"Kamijou Touma."

…is what he wished he would have said, but instead he was a bit preoccupied staring at the girl in her entirety (but mainly at her bust).

 _I know this isn't the time or place for this, but I think she might be right in my strike zone! That mature body and big-sisterly air about her…!_

He shakes his head to direct his thoughts back to the task at hand. As tempting as it is to simply stare at her, he does have an objective to complete.

Well, with the disappearance of Patchouli and the maid, he has two objectives: to confirm Patchouli's safety and deal with the maid if the need arises and to escape this danger-filled mansion.

"My name is K-Kamijou Touma." He stumbles with his words as he introduces himself, if only because of the pain in his arm and the fact that this girl fits his preferences very well. If only she had glasses; then she'd fitting it to a 'T'.

 _Well, if that's the case, then I guess Mamizou-san from the shop would fit pretty well, too…_

He wonders how he didn't notice how good she looked when she stepped into Kourindou on his second day in Gensoukyou, but maybe it's because he was being mentally smothered by the unnaturally thin Reimu and the petite Marisa.

"Kamijou-kun, huh? Nice to meet you," she says, then gets into a fighting stance that anyone could recognize as a martial arts stance.

 _'_ _Nice to meet you,' she says…? Wasn't she just attacking me? And isn't she about to do it again?_

Questioning Meiling's thought process, he asks a question.

"What's the point in getting friendly if you're just going to attack me, Meiling-san," he asks guardedly, preparing for the chance of her responding with her fists rather than her words.

She again cocks an eyebrow and looks at him this time with mild amusement. "Oh? Didn't think you'd complain about that." When she pauses and looks at Kamijou's uncomfortable and slightly banged-up figure, she continues. "Well, there's no need to be overly hostile, you know? As long as I do my job, there isn't really a problem."

Kamijou groans. "So you want to kill me, too?"

She scratches her cheek and looks off to the side, breaking out of her stance. "It's not a matter of _wanting_ to; I _have_ to. Otherwise I'll lose my job, you know? Orders are orders, after all."

"Even so; isn't there a way to do this without you killing me and you still being able to keep your job?" Obviously, Kamijou has no desire to die, and he doesn't want Meiling to lose her job because of him, either.

However, there is almost no room to compromise.

 _Wait a minute…_

He just had a similar conversation with the maid.

"Wait a second, Meiling-san. Your mistress ordered you to do this, right?"

She nods. "Through Sakuya-san, yes."

Again, he sees a light at the end of the tunnel, that light being a conclusion without violence.

"W-well, actually, she cancelled that order. When she gave the order to Koakuma at first, she had a change of heart and had Patchouli-san retract it," Kamijou hurriedly explains and hopes with all of his being that she'll listen and stand down.

She puts a hand on her hip and cocks it to the side, revealing a bit of her leg underneath the Chinese dress in the process.

"Oh, is that so?"

Kamijou sighs in relief as it seems she believes him, thankfully a lot more readily than the maid did.

 _Thank goodn—_

" _Too bad that was all a lie._ "

"…Eh?"

"Remilia-sama never really intended to retract her order, Kamijou-kun. She just had to comply while Patchouli-sama was there with her. She still had an operation in the works behind the scenes," Meiling explains as she twists her head to the side, cracking her neck. "She was never planning to spare your life, Kamijou-kun."

"No…way…"

The light at the end of the tunnel just turned out to be a train's headlight.

All hopes of a peaceful end have tossed out of the window to leave only a desperate struggle in its wake.

 _If that's true…then what is that maid—Sakuya-san, I think Meiling called her, going to do to Patchouli-san? Silence her?_

"But why, Meiling-san?! She understands that what happened in the library was an accident, right?!" Kamijou nearly yells at her as he asks this as if knowing will change something.

She shrugs. "I don't know. Sakuya-san didn't tell me that much, and if she didn't tell me, then Remilia-sama didn't tell her, either. There's probably some underlying reason, anyway, and if she didn't tell us then there's no reason for us to worry about it." Meiling gets into her martial arts stance once again, signaling the end of their conversation. "But what I said earlier still stands, Kamijou-kun."

Kamijou, having accepted that he's going to have to fight to get out of this, gets ready to fight as well. "What?"

"I'm just doing my job," she says as she cups her hands together, and he hears a faint 'whirring' sound and sees a faint light as she holds them there. "So no hard feelings, okay?"

And here begins Kamijou's first real fight of the day.

* * *

 _This is getting out of hand, ze!_

While things have mostly died down back on the ground because of the unprecedented stalling of the fairies' trademark chaos, up in the air things have been getting progressively worse. At the beginning of Marisa's three-way with the fairy (whose name she had learned to be Emily) and Flandre, things were more or less manageable for the monochrome magician.

However, as time went on, Flandre and Emily seemed to start getting more amped up because of the skirmish, and the fairy in the trio actually displayed something a few moments ago that was probably the most troublesome thing yet.

She started glowing orange, like the evening sun, and the glow had spread to Marisa and Flandre as well.

At first the blonde had thought that it was just some play on the mind to motivate her, or just some weird special effect, but Marisa quickly figured out that it was more than that; it was some sort of emotional control. Marisa, as many can probably tell because of how many she gets in, enjoys fighting, or rather danmaku duels in particular. The only time she can say she fought without starting to enjoy it would be the escapades on the moon a couple months ago, where she was so confused and overwhelmed that there wasn't any room for enjoyment.

This situation is a similar one, except that she's fighting with more guilt than any kind of enjoyment, which made the immense elation at the prospect of fighting that she felt glaringly out of place, so she made quick work of the fairy's ability to focus on the bigger picture rather than each individual stroke.

However, the hold is still on the fairy herself and Flandre Scarlet, the latter of which presents the greatest problem. She's already unstable enough when she's calm; the risk of a serious accident occurring will increase proportionally to her excitement.

To be honest, it would be safer for her to flee this fight entirely, but if she doesn't keep those two occupied and corral them in some direction, the effects of their fight may splash onto Kamijou's hitbox.

She looks around the courtyard again with her bird's-eye-view, and, out of nowhere Sakuya appears, walking past Kamijou and towards Patchouli.

 _When did she—oh wait, that's a stupid question. She can do that time-screwy thing…_

Marisa takes a short moment to look at her begin to speak to Patchouli and then the two of them walk off before looking back at the Outsider.

"Oh?"

The three people he was with: Koakuma and two fairy maids fall to the ground after being hit with what Marisa can make out as knives in the head. She knows immediately that the culprit is a certain Izayoi Sakuya, and that the maid's colleagues are by extension safe since she (probably) wouldn't just kill them like that.

However, just because she knows this doesn't mean that Kamijou knows, as he is shown—

"He's handling this a lot better than I expected…"

Marisa mutters to herself as she watches him search them for injuries and pulses in a relatively composed manner rather than just freaking out, like many people (including her) would have done, which is extremely notable.

 _Is he…used to this kind of thing…?_

Wondering this, the magician girl decides that she's dilly-dallied around long enough and moves to join the fray between the vampire and fairy, reaching down under her dress and pulling out two flasks full of a magical, explosive liquid and chucking one at each girl.

The two combatants, despite seeming totally focused on each other, notice this and aim to shoot them down while still somehow fighting each other with the same intensity that they were before, making Marisa worry just a tiny bit more about them than she was.

Flandre closes her hand, which makes the bottled bomb closest to her be obliterated entirely.

However, Emily, who doesn't have that kind of perfect destruction power, merely shoots out a ball of energy to get rid of the bomb.

Bad idea.

The liquid inside of the container, now that it's been exposed to an outside force, has no choice but to explode, enveloping the two young girls.

"Ahaha, she fell for it," Marisa says to herself as she floats slowly backwards so that she doesn't get caught in the blast. She knows that all she accomplished there is drawing their attention toward her since Emily, while physically weak, can revive entirely and Flandre, being physically sound, will regenerate from any damage that the blast caused, even if her body is destroyed entirely as long as _something_ remains of her.

Of course, Marisa wouldn't carry around a bomb capable of causing that much damage in her skirt; that kind of destructiveness is saved for her actual magic.

The explosion dies down and Marisa readies herself with a star projectile gaining power in her free hand, prepped to shoot it at the first sign of movement.

The problem is, however, that there are _many_ signs of it.

Bats.

Bats everywhere.

The swarm of flying mammals flies out of the smoke and move to envelop the black-white magician, but she won't, or rather _can't_ let that happen.

 _That Flandre…she doesn't have to fight so seriously!_

Marisa raises both hands to the sky and fires a blast from each one, then keeps as still as she can.

This move, in Marisa's boredom (or perhaps her affinity for naming her attacks) is called _'Strato Fraction'_ , and it sends light magic into the air that turns into a cluster of shooting stars as it comes down. [1]

The positioning of the stars is random, so there is a risk of the magician getting hit if she moves at all, which would bring her into the effective range.

Of course, she could move out of it if she weren't surrounded by these bats, but that's the reason she even cast the attack in the first place.

The bats begin to close in while circling her, and almost on instinctive reflex, she fires into the cyclone. It only takes out a couple of bats.

 _Come to think of it; aren't vampires allergic to the sun or something? How is Flandre able to be outside…?_

Marisa, remembering one of the many weaknesses that vampires have, looks through the swarm of bats to view the sky.

She sees her magic starting to fall and assault the bats, and beyond that she sees a disappointing sight.

 _Wasn't it sunny this mornin'…? That Celestial better not be screwin' with the weather again…_

She's referring to the Celestial Hinanawi Tenshi, who wreaked havoc around Gensoukyou in the form of strange weather and earthquakes all to get people to fight her because she was bored. She's hoping that the girl learned her lesson, but in the event that she isn't and is messing with the weather again she'll have to do something about it.

Well, maybe not her, since she got her ass handed to her when Tenshi fought her at full power, but maybe she can get Yukari or the shinigami Onozuka Komachi to do it, since they took her down with no problem during their fights with her. [2]

Marisa seriously considers this, considering how unnaturally warm it is in Gensoukyou today despite the season, but leaves it be in order to focus on the task at hand.

As Strato Fraction takes its toll on the bats, Marisa scours the area for the fairy, who should have blown up entirely from that bomb because of her frailty. There should at least be an orange wisp in the place of Emily's body around the explosion are, but she doesn't see any.

Well, she did revive immediately after being obliterated those couple dozen times by Flandre, so maybe this is to be expected.

 _Okay, Strato Fraction should be almost over by now…_

To disclose some information, she had actually fired a super-charged one that had a longer duration, so it was able to take out many more bats than a normal one would have. That being said, though, there's still a large number of them left.

 _Just what is Flandre planning to do, circling me for this long…?_

Strato Fraction was cast in hopes that the girl would have enough punishment and revert to her base form, but that development didn't happen.

At this point, she's tempted to blast the hell out of the area just to get some breathing room, but decides not to. She doesn't want to hurt Flandre too much, and she doesn't want to incur the wrath of the mansion residents.

She decides to try and contact the vampire.

"Oi, Flandre! You gonna go back to your child form anytime soon?"

There's no answer to her question, but the bats start chirping as if Flandre forgot that she can't communicate in that form.

At first it was only a few, but it's gradually getting louder and spreading to the others as if contagious, the high-pitched sound straining her ears and making her feel insignificant in the cacophony.

"Geh…Fine then, Flandre!"

Marisa starts to grip her broom in preparation to try and break through the wall of circling bats, only having not done so earlier for fear of being thrown off by some surprise attack. But since the vampire hasn't done anything besides circle her for this last duration, the magician figures that she won't do anything now.

Marisa grips her hat to prevent it from falling off in her following action. "Here I go, ze!"

Marisa pushes through the bat wall with her trademark speed, sending many of the airborne mammals flying in an out-of-control way, and she whips around to look at the cyclone that she undoubtedly disrupted in her explosive movement. Sure enough, in response to her action, the bats start to converge on a point in the center of the ex-cyclone, forming into the body of vampire Flandre Scarlet.

The magician, feeling a bit akin to a bullfighter, holds an arm out to the side with a slowly growing sphere of energy in it. Her fighting instincts tell her that the vampire is going to do something very soon, and Marisa has to be ready for everything if she doesn't want to be knocked out of the sky. She's sure it would be a pain to Sakuya and Meiling if they had to clean her stain off of their nice stone courtyard, as pretty as her stain may end up being.

The final bats join together with the main body, and the vampire fully focuses on the magician with her scarlet eyes.

"Marisa, you're mean~!"

Flandre calls this from the however-many-meters away that she is, throwing in her own childish wave that makes Marisa wonder if she truly understands the gravity of the situation.

Well, if she doesn't, the blame can be put on the fairy that's obscuring her judgment, and her sister for not helping her mature enough to realize.

"No, I'm just tryna' survive!" Marisa responds with this, the ball of energy in her hand being held now at a constant strength rather than constantly growing. As of now it's about the size of, say, a watermelon. If a watermelon was perfectly spherical.

"Survive what?" Flandre tilts her head to the side in confusion. "I thought we were playing around…"

Marisa buries her face into her free hand. She definitely doesn't understand how serious things are right now.

Well, whether or not Flandre understands is of no concern to her. All she has to do is keep her and the fairy maid from causing collateral with Kamijou.

Wait…

 _The maid!_

Marisa looks around frantically, searching for the maid so she could bring her attention back to her, but she sees no sign of the orange-haired fairy.

"Damn!"

She's lost her.

 _Don't tell me she went after Kamijou…!_

She looks down toward the human boy, who is still in a close-quarters fight with Meiling and looks to be slowly losing ground, especially since it looks like by this point he's totally lost use of his right hand with the way he's not attacking with it. However, despite that troubling scene, it is made a little better on his end with the absence of the fairy maid.

 _But if she's not there, where the hell is she?_

She turns her focus back to Flandre, opting to ask her if she's seen her, but before she can do that…

A wide, wild, and annoyingly happy smile.

"Looking for me?"

Emily was there in front of her, not even a meter away.

 _H-how did she—_

In her hands are two glowing orange spheres, pointed straight towards her. There's no way in hell she's dodging those.

However, she does have a glowing ball of magic in her right hand. If she can't dodge it, she can at least block it with some magic of her own.

The maid throws the two spheres forward.

Marisa holds her hand out in front of her, making sure the sphere will intercept both of the opposing ones before they hit her.

 _Huh? That's strange…_

She was expecting some kind of explosion with the contact of the two opposing forces, or at least to feel some resistance from the impact, but there was nothing.

She looks warily at the ball of magic.

"Did I make it too strong…?"

Marisa looks up at the fairy to see if she tried or will try anything, but all she sees is the annoying smile on her face.

 _Maybe throwing this ball at her will wipe that irritating grin off her face…_

As Marisa contemplates this, the ball in her hand grows as if responding to her possible intentions.

The only problem is that she didn't command it to do that.

"Oi oi oi, what's happenin' here?!"

She pours more concentration into keeping the size and power constant, but no matter how much she puts in the ball seems to get rowdier, gradually becoming more unstable with how much it's rebelling and focusing on gathering power rather than maintaining its shape and size.

"What is—" Marisa begins to wonder what's happening, but understands mid-sentence and glowers at the fairy. "You. What did you do?"

The fairy places her hands on her hips and makes some kind of satisfied noise, reminding her a bit of a certain ice fairy. "Why, I only used my power to make that ball more excitable, is all." She grins in contrarily smugger fashion than the happiness-filled grins from earlier. "My name is Emily _Euphoria_ , you know."

Marisa groans. "Well if ya don't stop it, you're gonna blow us both to hell, ze!"

The fairy covers her mouth, expressing shock that Marisa was beginning to think she couldn't express. "Oh no! Why didn't I think about that before—yeah, right! I'm a fairy, so I can't really die." Despite saying this, she does have a slight expression of worry. "That ball _is_ Spell Card regulated, right?"

"Well, duh! I'm not tryna kill you two!" Marisa was tempted to facepalm in exasperation, but decided against it in order to try and contain the energy of the ever-growing ball. "But Spell Card regulated or not, it's still gonna hurt, ze!"

"Hehe…"

 _This bitch!_

"Don't giggle; turn your power off! I'm not gonna be able to hold this for much longer!"

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Flandre decides to come and check things out, and oh, such _timing_. She'll definitely be able to help Marisa focus.

"Flandre, sorry, but you may need to get away from here, now," Marisa warns through gritted teeth, struggling to maintain control as she's at the limits of her concentration. "Don't need ya getting caught in a blast, ze!" She turns back to the fairy. "Do something, before I throw it at ya!" Despite saying this, she adds her other hand to the mix in the hopes that it will at least make her think she's able to pour more energy into keeping it stable. It seems it can act as a placebo in that way.

The fairy backs up some. "Y-you won't really do that, right?"

"I will. I promise on everything I love I'll throw it at you if ya don't do something about this."

This is no lie. Marisa would definitely throw it at her if she doesn't do anything.

The only problem is that she can't. The thing is, since Marisa's will is the only thing keeping the ball's energy in check and form constant, the moment that the ball leaves her hand the energy will flood out in an explosion that will swallow the trio of girls before they have a chance to move.

Well, that's disregarding the shockwave that will blow them away, so if by some miracle one of them manages to dodge the release of heat and light, they'll be hit with the wave of air propelled by it.

"W-well, Marisa-san…uh, my power really can't just be turned off like that…"

"…"

As the fairy fidgets, the vampire and magician are speechless. The manifestation of nature couldn't just _stop_ her power, like most people should be able to.

Trying to keep her cool, Marisa asks, "Well, how can it be turned off?"

"It just stops over time…"

"Over time, yes, over time…well? How long are we talking?" She feels her eye twitch because of a mixture of intense concentration and frustration.

"With the amount of energy I put into your ball…maybe ten, fifteen minutes…?"

All illusions Marisa had of getting out of this without exploding are shattered.

 _You're telling me I have to wait_ that _long to get my control over this ball back?_

At best, she has maybe a two minutes left until her concentration snaps and their assaulted by an explosion. To be honest, though, she'd rather just take the explosion now instead of straining herself first to get the same result.

With this in mind, Marisa concedes her objective of 'stopping the explosion' and instead changes her goal to 'surviving the explosion'.

Her thinking of other things will shorten the amount of time to prepare significantly, though, so she instead proposes something to her two partners.

"Okay, since that time limit means we are most definitely going to explode, I'm going to need the two of you to think up some way to get me out of this as unharmed as possible."

Marisa boldly asks this favor of her opponents, one that their good nature wouldn't allow them to turn down, which she is grateful for. She knows that if she were in their position, she'd probably run off and let them deal with the problem on their own.

Despite their good nature, though, that does not make them geniuses. Combat geniuses, maybe, but nothing more.

"Um…"

"Uuu…what do we do…?"

Emily and Flandre both seem to be at a mental impasse despite barely taking any time to think about it, effectively dooming Marisa to explode in ninety seconds' time. Maybe this is what she gets for expecting so much of two people with such childish mindsets.

Silently cursing this situation, she says, "Okay, obviously you guys didn't think of anything…so what now? You two can leave if ya want, ze. I'm sure I can find a way out of this."

Flandre fidgets nervously. "R-really? Are you sure?" The vampire seems to definitely not be on board with Marisa making a sacrifice like that, even though she's only suggesting an option that they could have taken at any time.

"Yes, yes. Hurry it up if you're going," she urges at her needless deliberation. While she appreciates the sentiment, they really don't have time to dilly-dally around trying to think of whether they should leave. In truth, it doesn't even really matter, since this magic is Spell Card regulated. The most they'll get is a varying amount of pain.

Which she wants to avoid, obviously, so it would actually be better if the two left. Marisa thinks exceptionally well in three circumstances: in silence, in solitude, and on the fly. If they leave all three criteria will be met, albeit the first one only partially due to the hum of the magic in the ball.

"Then, don't mind if I do!"

A certain fairy's voice is a bit too eager to leave, which tweaks Marisa nerves just a bit.

However, as she follows the voice and the quickly-receding sound of flapping wings and sees the absence of said fairy, she realizes that she doesn't have the time to be irked about something like that.

"Oi! Bring your ass back here, Emily!"

Marisa yells after the fairy, beginning to move to chase her but the energy in the ball begins to fluctuate, forcing the magician into becoming stationary again lest she over-stretch her mind and blow herself away with an uncertain-but-undeniably-massive amount of force.

Gritting her teeth, she watches the fairy zoom towards the dueling Kamijou Touma and Hong Meiling, no doubt with intention to take the boy in. However, with the recent unconsciousness of Koakuma and the strange settling down of the fairies as she's noticing now, what even is the point? From what she can see, she's the only fairy left fighting right now.

 _…_ _That idiot…does she not realize—!_

Marisa just noticed something.

Since the fairies stopped fighting, that fairy has no reason to continue, either. Which means Marisa no longer needs to fool around with these two. All she would have to do is explain things to Emily, and then she can get to helping Kamijou deal with Meiling and get him out.

Of course, she has to take care of that ASAP, because by the looks of the male ground combatant he won't be able to manage both that Chinese youkai and emotion fairy at the same time.

With this in mind, Marisa turns to the only person that can help her with that—Flandre Scarlet—so quickly that her hat is displaced on her head. She'd reach up to fix it, but she fears if she takes off her other hand she'll blow them to hell.

"Flandre, I need ya ta do somethin' for me."

The vampire, who had only watched the fairy go off in shock, looks in surprise to the magician. "H-huh?"

Marisa skips repeating herself and goes straight on to a plan. She shortened the amount of time she has holding the ball from about forty-five seconds to twenty because of it, but if Flandre doesn't delay too long it shouldn't be a problem.

"Alright, when I say 'go', I need ya to tackle me." She motions to fairy rushing off behind her. "Preferably in her direction."

Flandre, of course, looks bewildered at the request. "But—"

"No 'buts', Flandre. I just need ya to do this for me." She doesn't wait for a response and jumps straight into action. "Alright, on three."

Flandre, not being able to argue with the serious Marisa, positions herself so that she can do everything asked of her in a straight line and swallows in nervousness.

Marisa does the same and begins the countdown.

"One, two, three, GO!"

Flandre rushes forward, almost faster than her eyes can pick up, and there is one thing she knows for certain about this plan of hers as she faces forward and awaits the impact in her defenseless side.

 _This is gonna hurt, ze…_

* * *

"What are you up to, Sakuya?"

This was supposed to sound authoritative, but came off as weak due to the strain recent events put on Patchouli Knowledge's feeble body. With the near twenty-five minutes of constant magic-casting to keep the other fairies off of Kamijou, she was (and still is) teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.

As such, she's now leaning on the wall in the entry hall of the mansion, the cool interior bringing stark and welcome contrast to the abnormally warm day outside, though that had lessened significantly thanks to the recent cloud cover.

Not that that matters, of course, since her robes do little to release heat, rather letting the heat build up inside over time to slowly cook her, causing them to stick to her normally-unnoticeable figure because of their bagginess.

"Nothing," the maid answers, standing with her hands clasped in front of her uniform in front of the dizzy Patchouli. "I was just concerned that you would roast in this heat, so I thought bringing you inside was a good idea."

While Patchouli would like to believe her to save herself from expending more energy, she knows that she can't do that. The maid, to her knowledge, probably only just recently returned to the mansion, and given her lack of bags, it's likely she put them down in the kitchen.

Also, due to her lack of a questioning look or confusion, she seems to understand what's going on, at least to an extent. The problem here is deciphering what side she's on.

And so, the magician ignores what she said and gets straight to the point. "Are you—"

"Patchouli-sama, could I ask a favor of you?"

She's taken off guard by this. "W-what is it?"

"Could you somehow get Flandre-sama inside of the mansion, and make sure she can't come back out?" Sakuya doesn't break her expression of position by Patchouli, who by this point is starting to move unsteadily to the stairs.

"I suppose I can," Patchouli manages to get this out of her mouth as she sits down on the steps. "If you bring me my medicine." She adds this as an afterthought, despite this deserving to be in the front of her mind.

The maid nods in affirmation, and a cup of medicine appears in her hands the next moment, courtesy of her time-stop. She steps forward to hand it to Patchouli, who gladly accepts it and downs the small cupful in one go.

As she stands up, she looks at the taller maid questioningly. "Though I have to wonder why you didn't just bring her back in here herself."

Sakuya raises an eyebrow. "Are you saying you won't do it?"

Patchouli raises a brow as well because of the tone that the maid is taking with her, but she's willing to let it slide. Not like she can do much to her anyway. "No, I was just nitpicking. Give me a moment," the magician says as she floats forward, to a window to peek up at the sky.

 _Still overcast. Good. That makes things easier._

In order to fulfill Sakuya's request, she has to exploit one of the vampire's weaknesses—running water. And since all of the materials are present, all that she has to do is bring the water in the clouds down, and her work is done.

Fortunately, the weakness doesn't kill them immediately, but rather is extremely painful for them, so she'll be able to tell quickly and react accordingly.

Beginning to build up the magic within her, she walks past the maid and to the door, which she opens and then starts to mutter her spell to cause the storm. Faint blue light flows from her hands and flows upwards, to the clouds, and moments later the first drops start to fall.

Now all they have to do is wait.

Releasing her breath, she leaves the door open and turns to the maid. "Now, I've done your favor. What will you do next?" She asks this of the maid in a businesslike tone, something she's capable of now because of her fast-acting medicine.

Sakuya holds a hand on her chin and another over her breasts. "Well, I was thinking of dealing with the Outsider first," she turns to Patchouli as her eyes narrow, "Interpret that as you will—but now I'm thinking we should pay a visit to the Mistress."

"Remi?"

Come to think of it, she hadn't seen her outside participating in the battle (which, upon the revelation by Koakuma when she dragged a couple fairies away, was a totally pointless one). And since she wasn't there, that must mean she's still somewhere in the mansion.

"You're absolutely right," Patchouli says, as her earlier suspicions of Remilia being up to something are all but confirmed. Now all they have to find out is what. "I have a few things to speak with her about, anyway."

"Good." The maid walks up to Patchouli and grabs her hand, surprising her slightly but she resists pulling away because she knows what she's going to do.

"Well, if you'll excuse me…"

The scene before her changes in an instant and Patchouli begins to feel nauseous, causing her to grip onto the nearest thing she can use to steady herself—Sakuya. Being transported by the maid is something she'll never get used to.

Taking deep breaths to steady herself as she looks down at the ground, she hears footsteps at the end of the hallway.

Swallowing in a final attempt to calm herself, she releases Sakuya and faces forward, looking for the source of the sound.

And in front of her, covering herself with her wings and walking down the corridor with crossed arms and a shaken expression.

Sakuya wears a concerned expression on her face in response to Remilia's appearance. "Remilia-sama?"

The look of shock on her face is one of glorious proportions, as the normally charismatic vampire's eyes almost bulge out of their sockets at hearing a voice.

Looking up to face the two of them, Remilia immediately tries to recover and lets her wings return to a resting position and coughs as if to clear her throat. "S-Sakuya and Pache! What business do the two of you have here? Aren't you both supposed to be with the Outsider?"

 _Sakuya, too?_

Upon hearing these words, Patchouli takes a moment to look to Sakuya, but it seems that the maid doesn't plan on explaining herself, so she dismisses it and begins her attack.

"We could ask the same of you, Remi," Patchouli says sternly to the vampire, throwing the concern she started to have over her obviously panicked state out of the window when her longtime friend tried to cover it up. "What are you doing in the mansion with everything going on outside?"

Remilia makes an attempt at surprise, but the panic that was present moments ago resurfaces if only a little to mingle in with the emotion. "Y-you all made it o-outside?"

The magician nods. "Yes, and we have been for the last twenty or so minutes." She steps forward towards her. "Not to mention, you split up with me even before that, so I'll ask you again, Remi: _What were you doing?_ "

The vampire flinches at the magician's tone, but stands her ground. "I-I was looking for Koakuma, but since you all made it outside, I guess I've been roaming around for no reason…"

 _What's with her?_

She's acting so stern with the vampire in hopes that she'll stop putting up a farce and tell them what's up, since Sakuya seems to need to know too despite her most likely getting her knowledge of the situation from Remilia, but so far there's no dice.

But if there's something that can rattle Remilia to that extent, the sooner she knows about it, the better.

So, instead of the roundabout method she's chosen, she opts for a more characteristic, direct approach.

"Okay, so that wasn't the best way to go about this…Remi, I need you to answer me honestly."

The vampire only awaits the question, so she goes on and formulates her question.

"I need you to tell me what's really going on. What has happened that's making you act like this?"

With all the seriousness she could muster over top of her default somber attitude, Patchouli asks for an answer. Seeing her friend this panicked is not something seen every day here at the mansion, nor something that she really ever wants to see. And, if she can, she'd like to help her get through it, despite her tiredness. For anyone else this action would be uncharacteristic, but when it comes to her best friend, she would go through a lot.

Remilia, however, doesn't seem to want to cooperate.

Gripping onto her clothes so hard that her knuckles turn white, she says, "N-nothing, Pache. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Scowling at the poor attempt to assuage her, the magician opens her mouth to rebut, but before she can do so she's interrupted.

"Mistress, please. I can't do my job properly if you don't tell me anything."

Sakuya asks this sincerely of her mistress, with her clasped hands visibly tightening at her terrible attempt to mask her uneasiness, and Remilia looks shocked that Sakuya inquired as well.

However, her expression turns half-heartedly sour, as if she were trying too hard to appear as such. "W-what does this have to do with what I asked of you?"

"Nothing, mistress. I am only concerned," Sakuya answers almost immediately, so quickly that Patchouli doesn't think anything of Remilia's question until moments later.

"Wait, Sakuya: what did she ask you to do," the magician asks guardedly though there isn't much need to be so cautious, if Sakuya is there with them now.

 _But then again, she treats time and space as her plaything on the regular…_

Maybe her being cautious isn't unreasonable after all.

As she asks this question, Remilia begins to fidget and averts her gaze from Patchouli's, furthering the magician's suspicions as she looks to Sakuya to answer.

After what seems to be a small internal debate within herself, Sakuya answers. "I was ordered to kill that Outside human."

Out came that straightforward answer, and the bluntness at which it was told put Remilia on guard, while the content garnered a similar reaction from Patchouli.

"Remi."

The vampire flinches, but doesn't answer.

"Remi," the purplette repeats sterner than before, causing the bluenette too flinch again, but slowly turn her gaze toward her.

"Y-yeah?"

"Didn't we go over this in the library? How this was all an unfortunate accident and that you would stop pursuing him?"

Slowly, but surely, the vampire nods, which is both the right answer and the wrong one at the same time.

It's right because it goes along with the hard fact that they went over all that Patchouli just described and then some.

However, that wordless answer is also horribly, almost repulsively wrong coming from that vampire.

Remilia's normal prideful, charismatic, and noble try-hard attitude would have her responding with at least some form of argument, which will end up deteriorating into her throwing a tantrum and abusing her status to get what she wants, but none of that has happened since the library, and even then it was a surprisingly weak effort on her part. Now the girl has been reduced to a jumpy, meek mess, in almost a long-standing state of her signature Charisma Break.

However, skirting around the problem just because Remilia's in a bit of a funk isn't how Patchouli does things. As such, she presses further.

"Then tell me, Remi, just why did you send Sakuya after him? Surely not because you were experiencing a very minor case of embarrassment, right?"

The response Patchouli is expecting isn't an affirmative, so when Remilia, instead of reacting like the magician hit the nail on the head, merely looked unsure to the side again, the purplette feels the urge to sigh in relief, since it seems they're finally reaching the heart of this incident.

The magician, in one of her rare shows of sincere compassion, walks toward the vampire and kneels down to look her in the eye (which really isn't very much of a trip for Patchouli, what with her short stature).

"Remi, I need you to answer me thoroughly and honestly: What's really going on?"

Remilia fidgets and averts her eyes again, which slightly irritates the magician, but after a few moments she seems to steel herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath and opening the scarlet orbs up without a trace of hesitation left in them.

"O-Okay, I'll tell you…but you have to promise not to freak out, okay?" The vampire sticks out her pinky finger uncomfortably, requesting for a physical ritual along with the lines.

 _Really? A promise? She really is a kid at heart…_

Sighing, the magician stands back up and wraps her pinky around the bluenette's. "I promise."

She releases the hold and then turns to Sakuya, who was standing dutifully in her position and waiting for the two best friends to finish their business and says, "You too, Sakuya."

Nodding, the silver-haired maid steps forward and performs the ritual while on eye level with the vampire. "Of course, Mistress."

As those two release the hold, Remilia looks hard at the two of them and seems unconsciously to cover herself with her wings again.

"Okay…I saw…"

* * *

"Gh—"

All breath leaves Kirisame Marisa's lungs as a mentally unstable vampire rams her in her side, her arms outstretched to wrap around the gold-eyed blonde's torso. The vampire can be excused for this since she doesn't have much experience in exercising restraint, but it still hurt like hell regardless.

But that's not all.

There is also the presence of an ever-growing ball of magical energy, and a rapidly fluctuating one at that, courtesy of a fairy maid by the name of Emily Euphoria. She infused the ball of energy Marisa had planned to use to nuke her with her own magic, making the magic get all wonky and unruly and threaten to nuke not only that fairy, but Marisa and Flandre as well.

Well, that is, until Emily ran off to go and capture Kamijou yet again.

The unstable ball of energy was growing in size and destructiveness in Marisa's hands, the growth being somewhat managed by Marisa's now-stretched willpower. She kept it contained for as long as she could, and when she felt her concentration start to dwindle, she came up with a plan not only to stop Emily, but to reduce the amount of damage she would take from the ball.

That brings us to the flying tackle by Flandre Scarlet, and the loss of breath from Kirisame Marisa.

But, since all good things come in threes, right before she gets tackled Marisa releases her right hand's hold on the ball and throws her left one around behind Flandre so that it ends up right where Flandre was a moment ago.

As soon as she releases the ball, the energy is released from Marisa's hold and the sphere loses its shape. Explosively.

There's a bright light, a barely bearable heat, a loud booming.

But most importantly, there's a shockwave.

 _'_ _BOOM!'_

"WAA!"

"HOLY S—!"

Being tackled by Flandre was probably going to make them move extremely fast, if the breath-taking contact was any indication, but this…this is another matter entirely.

Feeling the wind rushing past her face and whipping her hair into a frenzy, Marisa struggles through aching ribs and watering eyes to look at their intended target: Emily Euphoria.

The fairy, thankfully not having that much of a head start on them is quickly coming within range of an attack by either Marisa or Flandre, and Marisa pushes away from Flandre and attempts to right herself and her broom so she can properly strike.

 _Oi oi oi, this can't be happenin'…_

The fairy, Kamijou and China, and the wall of the mansion beyond them are coming up _really_ fast.

And Marisa has lost her broom, and by extension, her only means of keeping herself aloft.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit ohshitohshitohshit OH SHIT!"

The witch turns around towards the only hope she has of stopping her fall.

"Oi, Flandre! Help me out here!" _Damn, why did I even force myself out of her grip?_

The vampire floats there, looking dazed and bewildered. "B-but you just let go of me…"

She groans. "Look, I thought I still had my broom then, alright? Just get over her—"

Marisa cuts herself off as she catches sight of her broom, falling to the ground now that it's not supporting its owner.

However, something else catches her eye, something with just as much importance to her as her broom and hakkero.

There, in all of its fiery glory, is her _hat_.

"Oh, _hell_ no." She focuses again on Flandre. "Flandre, change of plans—go save my hat!"

"H-huh? Your hat?"

"Yes, my hat! Just _go_!" She points toward it as she flies, and before the scarlet-eyed vampire can respond, Marisa turns to face where she's going. And when her ball-o'-doom escape plan's objective comes into her vision, a fire grows inside of her chest that she needs to vent out.

And Emily Euphoria, the one responsible for this mess in the first place, is not only the target for her plan, but now the target for her emotions as well. How unfortunate for her.

"You…"

Ignoring the wind tearing at her clothes and features, she focuses on the fairy with a danger-filled gaze and reaches for her hakkero.

She holds it forward with two intentions.

One: to slow her fall.

Two: to blast that infernal avatar of nature to oblivion.

A whirring sound comes from the magical item and light begins to grow in the hakkero, visible to Marisa even though it's facing away from her. She opens her mouth to call the attack.

"MASTER SPARK!"

She feels the usual resistance in her arms as the immense laser propels itself directly at the fairy, moving so fast that she Marisa doesn't even see her move to react to the beam as it closes in on her, but she doesn't find this enough. She pushes forward with her arms to counteract the resistance, and then pours even more of her magic into the hakkero, increasing the output and closing the distance to the fairy almost immediately.

She didn't even have time to make a sound as the fairy's frail body is vaporized by the non-Spell Card regulated laser, and it's likely that the fairy, what with what she's seen of her unnatural resurrection speed, is being killed as soon as she resurrects, over and over.

If this were an actual person, Marisa's emotions would range from remorse to downright disgust with herself, but since it's a fairy and they're damned-near immortal, she could care less.

Well, if the fairy were an older one, she would end up feeling something, since the older a fairy gets the more they come to understand what dying really is, but with how much Emily's died since she's been in the courtyard, she's ruled that out as a possibility.

And as the fairy is vaporized completely and Marisa keeps the laser going to do so, she begins to feel herself slow down, lessening the stress on her arms because of it. In a few seconds, she'll need to point the beam downward to make sure she doesn't begin to fly the opposite way.

 _Wait…_

Something has pushed forward into her mind; something she neglected to think about in her attack on the fairy.

 _She was heading right toward Kamijou and China, right?_

She finally takes notice of a sound over the loud hum of the laser.

The fire in her heart turns into a sinking feeling in her gut, and that's not just because of her slowdown from breakneck speed.

 _"_ Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me, ze."

Sighing, Marisa stops the laser and lets herself fall towards the wall of the mansion at a much more comfortable speed than before. In fact, it's slow enough that she can stop it with a simple, non-hakkero enhanced laser, no sweat.

However, she does have to sweat nervously over seeing what was causing the noise that she heard over the Master Spark.

* * *

She's holding back.

He can tell this with absolute certainty.

The fact that she's not attacking in the openings his technique leaves and letting him almost graze her with attacks despite her obvious skill in martial arts is a tell-tale sign of this.

And while it does frustrate him a great deal that she's not taking him seriously and fighting on his level, he still greatly appreciates the chance she's giving him. This shows Kamijou Touma that the Chinese youkai really is only fighting him because she was ordered to and not because she wants to.

In a way, this shows him just how kind the youkai called Hong Meiling is.

This just makes him want to ensure she can smile after all of this is over even more.

However, there are more pressing matters at hand.

And that would be that, despite the fact that Meiling is matching herself with his skill level, she still is fighting him. And, given the appropriate and obvious advantage, she will follow through with her order.

With this in mind, he pushes through his fatigue and pain and continues to do his best against her, but slowly she's gaining the upper hand.

Perhaps it's due to how much he's straying from his usual right-hand-centric beat-down method, thanks to the wrist sprain that Marisa unintentionally gave him.

As of now, his right hand is being used only to—actually, it might be better to just see it instead.

Kamijou leans back to dodge a roundhouse kick from Meiling, the attack nearly taking off his nose as it comes inches away from his face, and as her foot returns to the ground he takes the chance to step forward and send his fist forward towards her head.

However, just before it reaches her, both of her feet leave the ground, the girl tucking her body in the air with rainbow-colored light shrouding her boot-covered feet.

Thinking quickly, Kamijou redirects his left fist to hit her body rather than her head and brings up his right hand from his side to knock her feet to the side so that they can't hit him.

The light on her feet dissipates immediately as Kamijou grits his teeth from the contact between then Imagine Breaker and the Chinese youkai's feet, a look of surprise coming across her face as he redirects the physical portion of her dropkick and negates the magical portion. His left fist makes successful contact with her torso, causing Meiling to gasp as the force sends her into the ground.

Kamijou moves forward for a follow-up, but before he can reach down to attack again…

"ACK!"

A force drives the air from his lungs as he's sent flying, his body tumbling over the stones of the courtyard.

He uses the momentum of the blow to roll into a kneeling position facing Meiling, and he sees her rising from the ground clutching her side where he hit her.

He takes a few pained breaths, his chest sore from whatever the hell Meiling hit him with, and he rises to his feet. He attempts to clench his right hand like he normally does to steel himself, but upon being reminded of his injury with the intense pain that came in response, he instead switches to his left.

The two of them stop and look at each other separated by many meters of distance between them, appearing to size the other up.

"You know, Kamijou-kun, you're a lot better at fighting than I first thought," Meiling calls over, complimenting the boy while once again standing up straight and cocking a hip to the side in a very distracting manner.

"Thanks, I guess," he responds with much more difficulty than the youkai, her appearing to recover immediately with the casual tone and stance she's taking. "I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed that I've gotten so good at it, though…"

"No thanks required," she says while raising a hand to dismiss his thanks. "I was just making an observation. "But tell me: what's up with that right hand of yours?"

Keeping his mouth shut, he considers what it's okay to tell her, or if he should even tell her at all. For all he knows, if he tells her what the deal with his right hand is she'll pull out some crazy attack that his hand has no hope of withstanding.

Maybe if she asks again after this is over, he'll tell her.

"Actually, don't worry about it," she says as she readies herself in a fighting stance again. "Shouldn't be telling your enemies your weaknesses, right?"

Silently, he agrees with her and readies himself as well, his right hand limp at his side.

"Here we go then!"

Meiling raises her leg up and bends her knee at ninety degrees, and bright yellow light glows at the bottom of her foot.

Kamijou rushes forward, determined to strike before she can get her own attack off.

She brings her foot down with a powerful stomp, and a person-sized wave of energy follows the stomp, moving towards him at a nightmarish speed. It's all he can to raise his right hand despite the pain to meet the magical attack, and with a crash the wall dissipates.

However, while he was able to react to that attack, he could not react to the next one.

The Chinese youkai comes in his vision as the wave dissipates, and she seizes his outstretched right hand with her own and uses his forward momentum to drive him to the ground.

Kamijou yelps at the sudden attack and feels weight on the small of his back as his arm is twisted at an odd angle behind him.

"Ghk…gah…"

Kamijou lets out small whimpers as he struggles against the youkai gatekeeper's stable hold and the ever-worsening pain in his already-injured wrist.

"Now, this was fun and all, Kamijou-kun, but I'm afraid I've dilly-dallied long enough."

Her voice went from the laid-back tone he originally heard her with to a very businesslike one, sounding strangely cold in contrast to the slightly friendly one he had come to attribute with her.

Kamijou feels the train approaching him in that tunnel start to close in.

"But remember that I'm not doing this because I want to. At least you can take refuge in that fact."

 _Can I really take refuge in that?_

The human boy thinks this sarcastically and focuses through the pain to look for something to get himself out of this situation.

But in a well-kept courtyard like this, he doubts that there would be an item conveniently lying around for him to use.

 _Dammit…_

Despite this, though, he continues to search, and finds his answer not on the ground like he was expecting, but in the sky.

 _'_ _BOOM!'_

An explosion goes off in the air on the other side of the courtyard, a swirling mass of bright yellow and orange is enveloping the sky.

And coming from the direction of the explosion at nightmarish speeds are three figures.

One he recognizes as the fairy that attacked him here in the courtyard earlier.

The other two, however, are people that he is far more friendly and familiar with, despite their recent meeting.

 _Is that…Marisa-san? And Flandre-chan?_

Now the train has noticed him and is making an effort to slow down.

The thing is, though, is that the three bodies are coming _their way_.

From the sharp intake of breath he hears, it's clear Meiling has seen and heard this as well.

However, his hopes of that sight making her stop are dashed when Meiling tightens her grip on his hand and presses down on him harder, making it more difficult for him to breathe.

"—!" He can't even make a sound, thanks to the sudden increase in intensity.

"Well this is a problem…"

 _For you, maybe!_

Kamijou renews his struggle and even takes his left hand and pinching the closest area on her body that he can reach: her calf muscle.

"Ow ow ow! Stop that!"

"BWAH?!"

Kamijou lets out another squeal of pain as she twists his arm again and pins his left arm against the ground with her knee, sending pain through his forearm.

By this point the pain in his wrist is blinding, and he'd be surprised if he would even be capable of moving it after this is over, assuming things go his way.

As such, he looks up towards the approaching fairy and the magician/vampire duo quickly closing in on her.

Well, that's wrong, because it's now only a magician, as Marisa seems to have pulled away from the vampire, the problem with that being that she doesn't have her broom with her. Or her hat, for that matter, which makes her look less of a cute witch and more like just a cute cosplayer instead.

The duo exchanges a few words in Marisa's flight, until Flandre flies back towards the aftermath of the explosion for some reason and the witch faces forward, focusing on the fairy in front of her.

Then she reaches under her skirt.

And pulls out her hakkero.

"Oh no."

Kamijou knows what's coming next. And he can't help but utter these words despite the pain wracking his upper body.

She sees the witch girl opening her mouth and pointing the magical item toward the fairy maid.

Adrenaline starts pumping through Kamijou's body, and he finds the strength within himself to resume his struggle once again. Forcing his legs up to their knees, he pushes up on Meiling's weight, making her yelp in surprise and then he forces his upper body up, freeing his left hand which he uses to push himself up further.

"GAAHHH!"

However, the pain in his hand still remains through all of this, and he almost lost his balance when Meiling tightened her grip on his hand.

Regardless of that, as Kamijou gets up into a crouching position, he rams his elbow into the Chinese youkai's side repeatedly, but she pushes through that blunt assault and wraps her legs around his torso to keep her grip on him.

What surprised him the most, though, is the fact that she let go of his hand and shifted her hold to other areas.

"—!"

While his hand was allowed its freedom by its captor, his neck quickly found itself restrained powerfully in between Meiling's arms and her chest, making breathing a chore.

"MASTER SPARK!"

He hears this called out despite the girl's distance from him, and a moment later the ultra-powerful laser flies out of the hakkero.

But that's not all.

The fairy that is in its way doesn't even seem to notice it, as she continues to fly in his direction with a wild grin on her face.

"W-Watch out!"

He manages to rasp this out not nearly loud enough through the crushing pressure on his throat and the loud hum of the laser, and his warning goes unnoticed.

He watches this fairy get vaporized by the laser and instantly gets a bad taste in his mouth, despite watching her revive countless times while fighting against Flandre. Death is just something Kamijou firmly believes should be avoided until it's truly time to go, and even then you give Death trouble when he comes to take you. He doesn't remember if this sentiment was gained during his struggle against Othinus or if he thought this way beforehand, but that doesn't matter.

Gritting his teeth and struggling to breathe, he watches the laser grow nearer to him.

And he puts his right hand out to meet it.

His screams are drowned out by the hum of the laser.

* * *

Sound assaulted her ears.

A bright light assaulted her vision.

As Koakuma opens her eyes, she realizes that what she's seeing and hearing is something she's seen before. And even if she hadn't, she has heard enough about it to know what it is.

"The…Master Spark…?"

She tries to sit up and puts a hand to her head, wondering what happened to her as she massages a bruise on her temple.

As she looks at her surroundings, she sees Abby and Caitlyn collapsed on the ground near her, with knives sticking point-down into the ground, beside where her head was existing a similar one.

"So this was Sakuya-san's doing…"

Groaning, the little devil pushes herself off of the ground and looks up, trying to determine who the magician named Kirisame Marisa is firing at, as well as her location.

Tracing the beam to one end, she sees Marisa without her broom or hat firing it off, presumably using it to keep aloft in the absence of her magical item.

In the middle, she sees a constantly-recreating flicker in it in the shape of a body…a fairy, maybe?

And at the end of it…well, she can't see what she's firing at, in all honesty.

She begins to drift toward Marisa, and seconds before she reaches her she stops the beam and continues to drift forward and down toward the ground, looking directly at where she was firing.

Koakuma follows the gaze and sees two things.

One is the orange wisp that is a fairy's life energy drifting in the air, which slowly gives way to a new fairy body entirely.

 _E-Emily?_

And the second is Kamijou Touma, with the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion clinging to his back. It seems that she has her legs locked around his waist and her arms around his neck, which cannot be comfortable for him with her weight and strength. This is confirmed by how he's grasping at her arm with his left hand, and his right hand is forward after blocking that massive laser.

 _Kamijou-kun?!_

His grasping at her arm looks to be getting feebler and feebler, but his fight doesn't end there, since he yanks his left arm back and reaches behind him, and whatever he did makes her jump and release him immediately.

She hears the hum of another laser to her left, and she turns to see Marisa pointing her palms downward with a blue laser coming out of each one, using that to lower herself into the ground.

Koakuma follows her down at a distance, careful not to startle her since she had a strange expression on her face as she went down.

Upon returning to the ground, Koakuma clears her throat, catching the attention of the magician as she whirls around to face her.

"Oh, Koakuma. You're awake," Marisa says with a distressed expression, looking at Kamijou and Meiling in the distance, and the revived fairy looking at her surroundings, notably at the area behind Koakuma and Marisa by the entrance where the mass of recovering fairies are.

"That I am."

The fairy floats slowly toward the mass of fairies with a troubled expression, where she starts talking hurriedly with the closest one to get answers.

"So? What do ya want," she asks grouchily. "'Cause unless you're gonna help me out here, I don't see what ya would be doin' here with me."

Sighing, Koakuma answers her. "Nothing really. I just want to know what happened while I was out."

Groaning, Marisa says, "Well, Kamijou started fightin' with Meiling there, Sakuya dragged Patchouli inside for somethin'—probably a threesome with that loli mistress of theirs, and Emily tried ta blow the me and Flandre out of the sky." The magician points toward their left, where they see Flandre flying toward them with a cone-shaped object in her hand.

One look at Marisa's head tells her what it is, but a single, anger-filled look from her tells Koakuma not to say anything about it.

"God dammit, she couldn't even have the insight ta bring my broom, too?"

Marisa scratches her head in frustration and attempts to fix up her hair a little, semi-calmly awaiting the junior vampire's arrival.

In this time, Koakuma realizes something the girl said in her explanation.

 _Wait, a th-threesome?_

Perhaps because of her species, her mind immediate jumps to fantasies instead of questioning the thought processes of the human vampire.

"Hey, hey, Marisa! I got your hat!"

Flandre extends the…charred hat to Marisa after landing, and it's clear the state of the hat is not something she wanted to see, what with how she takes it gingerly and glares at Emily.

"I'm gonna kill her."

"You can try," Koakuma says, and looks towards Kamijou, who is speaking in a guarded manner to Meiling about _something_ ; only the Dragon (and maybe Yakumo Yukari) knows what.

And, upon looking at him, she feels that same feeling from earlier rise in her chest, but she forces it down.

 _Just focus on getting him out of here. Nothing else._

Taking a deep breath, she says "I'm going to go help Kamijou, Marisa-san. What will you—"

Koakuma stops short of her question as she feels something small and wet hit her nose.

 _Rain…_

She looks up to the cloudy sky, wondering where the sunny skies from earlier today went.

She holds a hand out to feel for more raindrops, but before she can do that she jumps in surprise.

"AAHHH!"

Whipping her head around, her eyes fall upon Flandre Scarlet writhing on the ground for some reason.

Rushing forward, Koakuma takes to Flandre's side, with Marisa not too far behind.

"Oi, Flandre! What's up with you?!"

"What's wrong, Flandre-sama?"

The vampire continues to writhe on the ground, her body seizing up and tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "The rain," she says through sobs. "The _rain!_ Make it _stop!_ "

A look of horrified understanding comes across Koakuma and Marisa's faces, and the two of them take quick action.

Koakuma stretches her wings to block as much of the now-full-on torrent of rain as she can, and Marisa holds out her hands and begins muttering something, a bright white light coming from her hands and enveloping the small vampire.

Within seconds, the vampire's agonized wails give way to only sobs.

When the light dies down, the girl has her eyes squeezed shut and the rain appears to evaporate before it touches her skin.

"W-what did you do," Flandre asks in confusion as she sits up with her eyes still shut. "I can still hear the rain, but I can't feel it…"

Swallowing, Marisa begins to answer. "I cast a spell that makes the rain evaporate before it touches you. Everything's al—"

Flandre slowly opens her eyes…and her face morphs again into one of pure terror.

The scream that followed made her blood run cold.

She reaches out to comfort the vampire, but before she can get there the vampire disappears in a blur. She could barely follow the girl's motion back to the mansion with her eyes.

"Flandre!"

Marisa, surprisingly, jumps into action before Koakuma does, sprinting after the vampire at a speed that looks almost as fast as when she's on her broom, even if it's only a trick of the mind.

 _S-so fast…_

Koakuma wonders if she should go after her, or if the two of them are needed to placate the vampire, and concludes that just one of them would be alright, even if Koakuma wants to be the one calming her rather than the magician.

She grimaces, and turns to what she was trying to tell Marisa she would do before the rain started: Kamijou Touma and Hong Meiling.

It seems the two of them have resumed their conflict, but Kamijou's on the extreme defensive, dodging the Chinese youkai's attacks with a skill you would only see from a professional fighter. And as far as she can tell, Kamijou isn't a professional at anything.

But regardless of that, he can only dodge and defend for so long before he slips up.

So the little devil will have to do _something_.

With this in mind, she moves to aid the human boy.

* * *

[1]: You'll see this in the fighting games. Or at least in Hisoutensoku, Hopeless Masquerade, and Urban Legend in Limbo. I haven't gone through the decks in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody or Immaterial and Missing Power, so I don't know about its existence there.

[2]: Eh. Long story short (dunno if this is a spoiler or not), but Komachi and Yukari wipe the floor with Tenshi in SWR. And when Tenshi goes into her rematch chain in her story, Komachi and Yukari are among those not rematched, which to me implies that Tenshi was already fighting seriously in their scenarios and still got beat. So yeah. Komachi and Yukari are strong. Very much so.

 **A/N: So yeah, that's a wrap. And boy, am I glad it is, because this chapter gave me hell. From the part with Remilia onward I had to rewrite at least three times because it didn't turn out the way I wanted to, and even now I think this is just the closest I'm going to get to satisfaction. I had to play around with POV too, with Remilia's scene being from her POV and the Meiling v Kamijou exchange being from the Chinese youkai's POV, but this is what I settled on. At least next chapter we'll be able to see things from the elder vampire's POV.**

 ***spits in order to rid self of bad taste***

 **Okay, well in all honesty, things are just going to get abysmal from here. May the Dragon and the Magic Gods have mercy on them all.**

 **A couple more things before I leave you all alone: it turns out that, much like ZUN, Kamachi is taking a little hiatus as well. So don't expect another novel until maybe December, and don't expect another game until around that same time. It's sad, I know, but it's a fact of life. Check the blog on the Toaru wiki if you need a source.**

 **Another thing is that Miki-san, one of Kamachi's editors, said that a Season 3 is still "possible to make" on Twitter. Keep in mind that this is an unofficial statement, so please don't get your hopes up.  
To quote the post: _"Please understand that this is an unofficial statement. I am always receiving everyone's passionate opinions on this. Index anime [season 3] is plausible, so please wait!"  
_ Again, if you want a source, check either the Toaru blog or Anime News Network.  
**

 **Well, that's all I have to say here. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	12. The Scarlet Devil Incident VIII

**A/N: This took a while. A little over six months. More about that at the bottom.**

 **Now, onto the reviews (like always, these are much appreciated):**

 **Server lock: Well, you have a valid point. Too bad I can't entirely remember my thought process from back when I said that, otherwise I would have more to say on it. As for whether this is building up to a sequel...well, it's definitely a set up to something big. Just remember that this is just starting up, so there's a lot to be done in order for you to even start seeing what this will cultivate into.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Well, it's nice to know you enjoyed what you read last chapter. I'm hoping this one doesn't disappoint.  
And I shall be totally honest here: I have no clue why I made him advance rather than slowly retreat. Maybe it's a situation where if he plays defensive she will have total control on where he moves...? As for the new volume; I was hype for the novel when I first found out it was out (which was after I read your review), and my hype was not betrayed.**

 **HerculesPoirot: I have dreaded the day anyone has said anything about me having Kamijou interact with the Myouren Temple crew. I am really afraid I'm going to somehow taint their greatness with my writing, but as of now I do have a little bit of interaction with them planned. So look forward to that.**

 **Formboy1: Ooh, nice to see another person new to Touhou and wanting to play. I suggest starting with Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night or Touhou 13 - Ten Desires. They're the easiest. You can download all the games from the moriyashrine weebly.**

 **downyawood: Nice to know you're impressed by the story. As for those 8 surprises...well, I do know of them, but those aren't going to be coming out, at least in this arc.**

 **toolazytologin: Nice to know you're enjoying the story. Again, I'm still not too sure about Touma's characterization, at least in my writing, but if you all like it, then I'm satisfied. His powerlessness isn't going to change at least in this arc, and there won't be too much punishment, but people will get put in their place, so look forward to that. And considering how bad his luck treats him, it'll find a way to make even that breather hard for him.**

 **Croniklerx: I think I heard the same thing about Touma lying about his preferences, but even if that isn't his fetish he's bound to have some attraction, probably. As for the Koakuma/Kamijou tag-team...well, don't expect too much, I guess.**

 **Guest (the not-corrector): Still appreciate pointing out the spelling errors. As for your three questions:  
1) I'd say he can definitely apply that to all of them. Since the Scarlet Devil Mansion residents are consistently portrayed as being in their older teens with the exception of Flandre and Remilia.  
2) I doubt anything will get rated M. As for what's going to happen next, though...just read and see.  
3) My 'Between the Lines' chapters are mostly going to be from the perspective of characters in Academy City. The Magic Side will get their attention in due time, but not any time soon.**

 **With all of that out of the way, let me apologize for the wait I burdened you all with. With every review I got in that period of inactivity I felt guiltier and guiltier, but now I'm back. So without further ado, enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident VIII**

* * *

"Oi, Flandre! Where'd ya head off to?"

Marisa calls this into the eerily-empty mansion as she enters the foyer of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, her eyes and ears alert for the slightest movement or sound. While the mansion may seem vacant, a human can never be too cautious in a house of youkai.

Approaching the center of the room, she looks at all of the possible places the vampire could have gone: there's the stairs leading to the second floor, a corridor on the left of the stairs, and another one on the right. Of the three, there is one that particularly stands out to her.

"Oi, oi, did she even look where she was goin'?"

On the corner of the right corridor's wall is a large chunk missing from the wall, obviously from a pretty heavy collision. Not that that would mean anything to a vampire like Flandre, though.

"Welp, looks like I know where she went…"

Instinctively, she reaches for her main form of combat-related transportation, and remembers that it was left behind with that damned explosion.

She sighs. "Dammit."

After muttering that precise word, she resigns herself to walking toward the corridor in question, stopping beside the missing part of the wall to steel herself for what's to come. She brushes some of the wet hair matted to her head to the side and shifts her weight back and forth on her soaked feet as she does so.

If Flandre's not there, then that's all fine and dandy, at least from a health standpoint. On the other hand, if she is, then a couple things can happen.

One would be that, by the time she sees Flandre, she will have calmed down and be ready to rejoin Marisa's party.

Two would be that Flandre is still unstable, but not so much that she goes 'kyuu' and the magician gets removed from existence, enabling her to reason with the junior vampire.

Three would be that Flandre is unstable to the point that the first part of the above happens to her.

Taking a deep breath, she takes a step out from the cover provided by the wall and looks out into the corridor, and immediately something at the end of the hallway catches her eye.

Similar to how she was a moment ago, Flandre is peeking around the corner at the end of the hallway. While she can't see her expression because of the distance, she can tell from her body language that she's at least not panicking over what happened outside a couple minutes ago.

Cue sigh of relief as the blonde magician approaches the blonde vampire. However, as she gets closer, something comes into her earshot that makes her raise her eyebrows.

 _Voices…is that that vampire's voice?_

She can't make out exactly what the voice is saying, but she can faintly hear Remilia's voice and two others. Upon further listening, she can make out Sakuya and Patchouli's voices.

 _The Mansion's Big Three, chattin' it up in here while there's chaos out in the courtyard, eh?_

For whatever reason, she's a bit irritated at this secret meeting. To think that _this_ is where the magician and chief maid went off to; to have a freaking tea party while someone is out there trying to stay alive.

Well, then again, a tea party in the middle of a corridor…that's weird even for them, so maybe their meeting is of a bit more importance than that. She'll at least excuse Remilia from being outside now since it's raining, but prior to the sudden downpour…well, Marisa has a couple questions for her about that.

As such, she moves to where Flandre is and whispers to her, first to see if she's okay.

"Yo, Flandre. You alright?"

Marisa says this as she taps one of the crystals on the vampire girl's left wing, but surprisingly this garners no reaction from her.

"Um, Flandre? Flandre-san? Flan-chan? You there?"

Still no reaction, but some of her slightly-damp hair falls back into place after being shaken about by her sudden movement earlier, and part of her expression comes into view.

 _What's goin' on that's got her so absorbed in it?_

Marisa again tries to get the vampire's attention, this time by shaking her lightly by her shoulder while preparing for any sudden movement (not that it would matter).

"Flandre, what's up with you? Why're ya being all spacey?"

Being subjected to more rigorous interaction seems to have been effective, since Flandre slowly turns toward the magician.

"Oh, goody, ya finally noticed me," Marisa whisper-yells as she releases the girl's shoulder. "So? What's got ya looking so enthralled?"

Pull her attention away from whatever it is she's listening to with a regretful expression, she looks to Marisa with a slightly confused look. "Um…enthra—wha?" She fumbles with the difficult word, prompting Marisa to sigh as she remembers this is someone with a kid's mentality.

She rewords the question. "What're ya so focused on, kiddo?"

"Oh!" Flandre's eyes widen in understanding as she moves deeper into the hallway, out of possible sight by the Mansion's Big Three, and points in their direction. "Onee-sama said that she…saw something that made her want to kill Touma." A look of confliction comes over her face. "I wasn't able to hear the reason, though, but it's probably something really bad if it made her want to kill him…"

 _Wait, wait, wait,_ she _saw somethin'? Isn't it supposed ta be the other way around?_

Marisa asks a question. "'Saw somethin''; whaddya think she means by that? Does it have anythin' to do with her claiming to manipulate fate?"

"Probably…I think I said something like this before, but I think Onee-sama's ability only allows her to see what will happen in the future. But that's only if Onee-sama isn't lying about it entirely…" [1]

 _If she's lyin' about it…why would she lie about having a certain power…?_

Oh, wait.

Marisa chuckles at this, for she is one who has lied about her powers, intentions, and even her identity to numerous people on numerous occasions. Heck, Flandre's one of those people!

The vampire tilts her head in confusion at the girl's sudden expression. "H-huh? What's so funny? I wanna laugh, too!"

The magician waves it off. "Oh, nothing. Just a thought, is all." She clears her throat and starts to walk forward, onto the corridor where Patchouli, Sakuya, and Remilia are talking.

"M-Marisa?!"

She stops just before she breaks past the wall and into the corridor. "Hmm? What's up?"

"W-why are you walking out there," Flandre asks with an expression that's a mixture between panic and confusion. "They might see you!"

"So? Sneakin' around's never been my specialty, ze."

"Wh-what? What are you about to do?"

She raises an eyebrow at the girl's question. "I'm goin' ta go stop them. Duh." She answers as if her action was obvious.

This seems to confuse the little sister even more. "What? But why? If Onee-sama saw something that made her want to kill Touma, then it has to be something _reaallyy_ bad, right?"

Marisa shrugs. "Even if it is, it's not like I care. I've done plenty of bad things, too. Heck, I break into this dingy place at least once a week!" She sticks out her chest and jabs a thumb at herself, radiating a type of pride that she's sure she would be called out on if she were with anyone other than Flandre. "And besides: we don't even know if your sister's tellin' the truth. She could just be tryin' ta get them on her side for all we know."

 _Though she wouldn't need to convince Sakuya of anything, since she's her maid and all…_

"Though if it _does_ happen to be somethin' really bad, then all we gotta do is get Remilia ta tell us what he did so we can stop it."

Flandre takes in all of this yet still seems apprehensive, which is not something that goes in Marisa's favor. Depending on the nature of the conversation that the Mansion Trio is having, they may end up trying to silence her when she confronts them, so she's going to need all the help she can get, even if it means relying on an unstable vampire. Marisa may be plenty powerful by herself, but there's no way she can tangle with those three big-shots on her own.

And she can't just half-heartedly convince this childish vampire into helping her. No, she has to make sure she has the full support of Flandre. And the best way to make a kid do something is to make them _want_ to do it, and want to do it from the bottom of their heart.

 _Luckily for me, I've got the perfect bargaining chip, ze!_

"Okay, Flandre. I'm sure you've got all kinds of reservations and crap because of your respect for your sister and all, but lemme ask ya somethin' that might change your mind." She pauses for effect, and watches as the vampire's face breaks into one of pure curiosity. "Are ya okay with lettin' Kamijou die?"

Her answer to the question is as she expected.

Flandre looks taken aback by the question, and answers after recovering from the shock. "N-No…"

"Like I thought. And so, I'm gonna ask you another question, Flandre."

This time Flandre gulps as she looks at Marisa, awaiting her question.

She puts a hand on the junior vampire's shoulder and looks down at her, meeting the girl's curious gaze. "Are ya gonna help me save him?"

* * *

Remilia Scarlet is a vampire capable of manipulating fate.

The full scope if this power is vague, and if she were a totally honest person she would admit that she often has no clue when it will flare up and in what form it will behave.

That isn't to say she has absolutely _no_ control over it, as oftentimes she can use it to see the futures (read as: fates) of others through their names, but there are times when it activates without her consent.

And it would be just her luck that it would force itself on her today.

When the Outside boy Kamijou Touma landed under her dress earlier that day in the library, she experienced a number of things.

One was obviously morbid embarrassment, not only because it is obviously very indecent for someone to peer up her dress, but also because she didn't expect to do much today and dressed as such.

Which means she forwent her usual choice in undergarments: bloomers, for the more comfortable and significantly cooler alternative of panties. [2]

Two is the feeling that she got from him. Or rather, his right hand. There's something… _wrong_ about it, so terribly wrong that it gives Remilia chills. And she knows that if she was able to sense that about him, Flandre is able to as well, which makes her wonder how she was able to act like she was near him.

The third thing she experienced, however, was probably the worst of the three.

Shivering again, Remilia unconsciously pulls her large wings around her body as a type of security blanket as she looks at Patchouli and Sakuya in turn.

 _It'll be okay if I tell them…They trust me and I trust them._

Thinking these words to herself, she organizes her thoughts and opens her mouth to speak.

"Okay…I saw…"

Alright, perhaps her thoughts aren't as organized as she first thought, because already she can't find the words to describe it.

Shaking her head and gripping the ends of her wings in order to focus, she tries again.

"Alright, well…uh…"

Patchouli narrows her eyes at her as Remilia can tell that she is trying her best to be patient, so the vampire changes things up and instead says the first thing that comes to mind.

"I saw everybody…hurt."

It's a pretty weak adjective for what she saw, but it was the only one she could think of.

It seems Sakuya and Patchouli share her sentiment, since Sakuya raises and eyebrow and Patchouli puts her hands on her hips and grimaces.

"…Can we get some more detail, please? Because right now it seems like something my magic can fix easily," the purple-haired magician says as she looks at the vampire, her patience looking to have been stretched to a thin, taut line.

Sakuya nods in agreement, looking at Remilia expectantly to provide a more detailed description.

"Well," _maybe I should just tell them what happened to each person…_ "Pache." She turns first to the century-old magician youkai. "I saw you unconscious and bound up near a wall here in one of the corridors of the mansion, and Flandre was knocked out, as well. Marisa was collapsed in a heap near a wall inside, and…"

Remilia pauses as she shudders from the memory of the vision, as it only gets worse from here, and Patchouli and Sakuya decide to capitalize on this silence.

"Um, Remi, don't tell me you're freaking out over us being rendered unconscious. Because as much as I would prefer not to end up like that, it really isn't that big of a deal," Patchouli says to the vampire with a difficult-to-read expression on her face.

"Yes, mistress; what you have told us so far does not seem to be _that_ bad," the Chief Maid adds politely.

The vampire pointedly ignores this as she tells them about the rest.

"One of the walls to the mansion was obliterated…Meiling was on the other side, unconscious in a pile of rubble. Part of Koakuma's body was gone, and Sakuya…"

Her maid's case was the worst. Koakuma, from what she could decipher from the vision, suffered a terrible physical injury, but since she's a demon and her mistress is Patchouli that isn't much of a problem. Sakuya, however, is only human, as extraordinary as she is. She can be killed as simply as by someone obstructing her airways as she sleeps.

In her vision she sees Sakuya still with fear as she stares at…something. On the other side of that something is Kamijou Touma looking with barely-conscious eyes in that same direction.

The strange thing with that is that the entire right arm on the boy is obscured just like whatever the thing is that has Sakuya so scared, and that is enough to make her feel fear as well.

Sakuya looks at her mistress expectantly, awaiting the words that should have come after the mention of her name. "Yes, Mistress?"

She looks up to her patient and expectant maid and tightens her wings around herself. "Sakuya…I don't know exactly what it is you have to face, but…um…it may be better if we can deal with that human quickly."

Patchouli and Sakuya both raise their eyebrows, though the former is in curiosity and the latter is in surprise.

The first to speak in reaction to the latest warning is the maid.

"Mistress, the way you worded that suggests that that human is someone to be feared," Sakuya points out. "While I will not deny that he is special, as I could tell from my brief meeting with him when he was not affected by me freezing time, I can tell that he doesn't intend to use his power in any offensive way."

"Not that he could," Patchouli adds as she crosses her arms. "I haven't been with him the whole time, but from what I can tell he's been behaving in a purely defensive fashion all day." She looks to Remilia again. "Implying that he has some kind of fearsome ability that can take down this maid, of all people, is ridiculous and we cannot accept that as a reason to kill him off."

"Geh…"

 _So they won't accept what I'm saying…_

Remilia grips her dress and squeezes her hands, trying to think of how to relay her thoughts properly. She was not content with the words that left her mouth moments ago, so now she's going to have to say something else. Reword her thoughts, elaborate more on what she saw, _something._

But the problem comes in the fact that she doesn't think she has the vocabulary to do so.

Oh well. All she can do is do her best.

And so, she sighs as she releases the tension in her body, letting her wings return to their resting state and her hands unclench.

"Sakuya. Pache." She turns to both of them in turn. "I wasn't lying when I said that I don't know what Sakuya has to face. In my vision, I really couldn't see what it was. It was like it was blurred out so I couldn't tell what it was."

She pauses as she prepares herself for the next part, and the two people that she trusts more than anyone in this world wait attentively, their eyes revealing that what she just said stuck with them.

"As for the Outsider…I'm so wary of him because in the vision, he was on the other side of the thing that you have to face, and his right arm was _blurred out, too,_ and in the exact same way. I have no choice but to link whatever that… _thing_ is with him."

Remilia explains this and the two girls in front of her seem to take in what she says and measure the weight to them.

"Remi…you're certain that you didn't just imagine all of this," Patchouli asks with a shaken expression.

The vampire shakes her head. "No, I didn't. And besides, when I came in contact with him, I felt something up with his right hand. Something that wasn't his negation gimmick." Thinking back to the feeling she got from him, she remembers the… _wrongness_ of it. "I know I have no right to say this, given what I am, but it felt so terribly _unholy_ …I think it would be better to dispose of him before he can unleash it."

Sakuya, seeming to have just been standing there absorbing the information since the last time she spoke, looks to her mistress with her same professional air as normal and says, "Well, even with this information, I don't think this changes what we have to do. Dispose of the boy, is that it? The same order as earlier?"

Remilia nods. "Yes, that's exac—"

"I don't think we'll have to go that far, Remi," Patchouli interjects with her eyes narrowed at the two of them. "Is killing him really necessary?"

"Well, no, but better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Patchouli opens her mouth to respond, but before she can Sakuya speaks.

"Patchouli-sama, I would like to point out that the stance you are taking makes it appear that you care for that Outsider's well-being. That is incredibly strange, especially coming from you."

The Chief Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion turns to the Librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and asks this, and the first response from the latter is an expression of disdain.

"Give me a break," Patchouli says with an exasperated tone as she pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'm not too concerned with his well-being; I just don't see a reason why he needs to die. It would be a shame to lose someone with such a unique ability. And besides, there are plenty of alternatives we can use to solve this problem."

 _She only wants him alive for his power?_

While it's not totally unexpected given her character, Remilia would have called her out on it if she had not provided a more solid reason as a follow up. She can't help but be extremely curious as to what these 'alternatives' are and if they will be as surefire as her execution method,

And so, she asks her what these 'alternatives' are.

Patchouli holds up a finger to start counting. "Well, we could always just cut off—"

"How about 'no'?"

The Mansion Triumvirate all turn their heads to look at the owner of this interjecting voice.

"M-Marisa?!"

All three of them are so surprised to see the human magician that they forget to use honorifics.

"Yes, yes, that's my name, ze. I've got chicks callin' it all the time." Marisa says this while striding confidently down the hallway. Strangely, however, she is apart from her broom, and her hat is…singed?

In fact, across her whole body, she has little scratches and bruises, has soot on a couple of places on her skin and her apron, and her clothing is damaged in some places.

She wouldn't say she looked _terrible_ , but she does look kind of bad. Not that Remilia is of any mind to say so at the moment.

It appears she needn't, however, since someone makes a quip of their own.

"You look like crap, Marisa," Patchouli says in her usual frank manner as she looks the human magician up and down. "What in the world happened to you?"

The magician glowers at her, which isn't much of a change from the expression she already had on her face. She must _really_ be in a bad mood.

"One of your damned fairy maids, that's what happened. She's freakin' insane," Marisa answers as she maintains the hostile gaze. "You really oughta put a leash on her or something."

Sakuya speaks up. "Would you mind telling me her name?"

"Emily Euphony or some shit like that," the magician answers vulgarly with a wave of her hand.

"Euphoria."

"Huh?"

"Her surname is 'Euphoria', not 'Euphony'," Sakuya corrects professionally. "And please, try not to be so vulgar in front of the Mistress."

She scoffs. "Whatever. Sounds pretty similar." Then the magician turns toward Remilia, fixing her golden gaze upon her own scarlet one. "And now, you."

"Yes?" The vampire keeps her cool as she's addressed. "What is it?"

She jabs a finger at her and steps forward. "Stop targeting K—"

"Uuu…Marisa…I think my shirt got burned by that fairy…"

The Mansion Trio's eyes widen as this familiar, high-pitched voice makes itself known, accompanied by footsteps. However, they widen as far as physically possible when the wings come into view.

Marisa turns around upon hearing the voice. "Huh?"

Flandre steps into view looking fine; though her mobcap and part of her dress is singed, from what Remilia can see.

"Look!" Flandre turns to the side to show the magician in question the part that was burned, and Marisa whistles.

"Huh. How did I not notice that?" The magician asks as she fiddles with the ribbon in her braid. The blonde vampire just shrugs in response.

 _Flan…_

On the back, where Flandre's wings connect to her back and where the fabric of her vest and blouse should be is her bare skin. Though luckily unharmed, the fact that the dress has been damaged to that extent means that Flandre had to have felt some pain as well.

Despite that, though, the Scarlet Sister is not bothered by it, so Remilia supposes she doesn't have to be as angry as she normally would be.

But even so…

 _I'll have to have Sakuya punish that fairy later…_

She files this away in her mind and turns her attention toward the blonde magician accompanying her sister.

She clears her throat. "What were you saying, Marisa-san?"

The magician's eyebrows shoot up as she's addressed, and she turns to the elder vampire with her usual confident expression. "Oh, yeah! Stop trying to—"

Flandre pushes her way in front of Marisa, cutting off her speech and surprising the Mansion's Big Three yet again.

She points at her sister. "Stop trying to kill Touma, Onee-sama!"

"…"

The Big Three are silent as they process what is being said and who is saying it.

 _This…is the worst possible scenario…_

Remilia thinks she was at least making progress in convincing Patchouli and Sakuya of aiding her in her plight, but now that her sister has found out…well, things are going to get complicated. She already knows of her sister's strange attachment to the Outside human and that, given her nature, she would do her best to stop any plots that will hurt him, which means that it will be extremely difficult to convince her to help or even stand down.

And that's not to mention Marisa's influence, too, since she's another one of the humans that Flandre is attached to. Marisa is already a charismatic and persuasive person, that much even Remilia will admit to, and that added onto the easily-swayed nature of her childish sister means she may as well just give up on trying to to convince her to either stop or help.

"Yeah! Leave poor ol' Kamijou alone, ze!" The magician voices her demand as well while mimicking the junior vampire's gesture toward the senior.

"Do you two even understand the situation?" Patchouli asks them before Remilia can respond to the blonde duo. Strangely, though not unfortunately, the purplette's words carry the intent to defend the bluenette vampire's stance. Remilia can't help but feel a little happy at this.

"Yeah! Onee-sama, you three were—Ah?"

Marisa brings her hand down on her younger vampire's head, ruffling the mobcap and cutting what she was saying short. Flandre looks up at the blonde human with confusion in her scarlet eyes, and she responds to the look with a thumbs-up with her other hand.

 _What is…does this mean she has some sort of plan with Flan?_

"Does it really matter if we understand the situation, Patchouli? We just don't want him to die, ze." Marisa says this with a dangerous twinkle in her eyes as she looks at the purplette magician youkai to answer her question. "If ya really need to know though, we get the gist of it. You saw somethin' with that fate mumbo-jumbo ya got that made ya want to kill Kamijou, yadda yadda yadda." She fingers the lip of her hat and grimaces when she feels the burned fabric.

Remilia feels the frustration welling up inside of her. Marisa has never been in a position of power or been the head of anything, so she wouldn't understand how she feels about seeing the residents and employees of the mansion being in the states they were in the vision.

…Okay, so maybe she doesn't care much about the fairies seeing as they are immortal and all and she rarely interacts with any of them outside of greetings (barring three), but since they didn't show up in the vision it really doesn't matter.

The well-being of the people in the mansion is her priority, so it makes sense that she'd sacrifice the person she can assume responsible, and she especially has no problem doing so since she has no connection to the boy. And, quite frankly, no one involved in this has any connection enough to resist on that front except maybe Flandre, and given time even she will get over it.

And so, the vampire speaks her discontent.

"Marisa-san, I doubt you truly understand the gravity of the situation. That Outsider is incredibly dangerous—"

"Oh, _please_. Lookin' at how much he's strugglin' outside, you're gonna have to give me a better reason than that." The magician takes her hand off of Flandre's head and meets eyes with Remilia, a smug-serious expression meeting a desperate-serious.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Sakuya twitch, likely desiring to respond to the obvious mocking tone in Marisa's voice. It seems her desire overpowers her self-control, too, because she opens her mouth to say something.

She holds up her hand, stopping the maid from saying anything, if only because if she responds the two of them will go off on their own tangent, with the possibility of Patchouli joining in.

"Marisa-san, everyone in this mansion ends up out of commission in some shape or form, and you are included in that number." Remilia comes out with this bluntly, since knowing Marisa for years tends to clue one into that fact that beating around the bush doesn't often work with her.

Flandre's eyes widen and Marisa raises an eyebrow at this news. Not quite the reaction she was looking for from the latter, but it's not a bad one.

"Onee-sama, are you serious?" The junior vampire asks this, and she nods to confirm.

"I'm serious, Flan. Everyone is down by the time that Outsider has to face Sakuya."

Marisa sucks in her breath quickly. "Oh. _Oh._ That's unexpected." She opens and closes her hands a few times as she seems to take in this information, and Flandre takes this time to voice her thoughts.

"Onee-sama, by everyone being 'down', you mean that everyone is…dead?" As she asks this, there is outright fear and disbelief in her eyes, comparable to a naïve young woman confronting her lover after a terrible deed, the lover whom she believed wholeheartedly to be a good person.

 _Hmm…it would probably be better for my cause if I told her everyone does…but she'll be devastated if I did, finding out that that boy she seems so attached to ends up killing the others…_

"No…no, no one dies."

 _But the state of Pache's servant is definitely troubling…And not to mention Sakuya looks absolutely terrified of whatever that unseen thing is._

She casts a brief look at the Chief Maid and turns back to her sister and Marisa. "But Sakuya runs a real chance of doing so in my vision." She adds this in to make sure Flandre doesn't immediately snap out of her current worry.

"Wait, wait," Marisa says as she holds up a hand. "Ya talkin' about ol' Silvery there, right?" She points at Sakuya, and the maid breaks her professionalism to react to the nickname with a facepalm. "Cuz I really can't imagine there are many things that can do her in, ze."

"Marisa-san," Sakuya says, "While I'm flattered by your opinion of me, please do not forget that I am just as human as you are."

The magician waves it off. "Sure, sure." She looks back to Remilia. "But still, to say that Kamijou is the perp doesn't fit. If he had some kinda crazy offensive ability he would've used it long ago, right?"

"Exactly," Patchouli agrees with the magician, which worries Remilia to a small degree. "While I won't say it's not possible for him to have an ace up his sleeve, I'd say anyone whose life is in danger would use whatever they have at their disposal to defend themselves. If he does have this kind of unknown ability that Remilia claims, he should have utilized it by now."

 _Pache…_

"Right?" She turns back to Remilia. "Anyway, what is this power that you see him havin', Remilia?"

"I don't know."

Marisa raises an eyebrow and the look on her cocky grin disappears, replaced with a tight-lipped expression.

"The hell? You don't know…what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Exactly what I said. I don't know what it is. But isn't the fact that just seeing it in a vision made me a nervous wreck enough for you?" Remilia motions to the wall on her right, her intent being the outside of the mansion where she can hear the faint sounds of the Outsider's battle with her gatekeeper. "Whatever it is, it's something so ineffably _immoral_ , so indescribably _powerful_ that I want to make sure it doesn't have a chance to be unleashed!"

Marisa softens up, if only a bit. "Okay, so he has somethin' that makes you want to piss your pants. But if that's the case, wouldn't it be better to just leave him be? Wouldn't attacking him just make him use it?"

Remilia grits her teeth at the solid logic. While it's not a train of thought she hasn't entertained, it's one that leaves too many unknowns to satisfy her at the moment.

The vampire explains her problems with that course of action.

"As logical as that may sound, I don't think that will work." She looks to Flandre, Patchouli, Sakuya, and back to Marisa. "I already said that I don't want it to have a chance at being unleashed, and I will not back down on that. If we let him go, what's to say that he won't use that power elsewhere? What's to say he won't come back?"

The magician gives her a dull look. "Awful pessimistic there, aren't ya, Remilia?" She plasters that stupid grin back on her face and points to both herself and Flandre. "I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character, and everyone knows that dogs and children are the best judges of character." She puts a hand on Flandre's head and the other on her own hip. "The fact that I'm over here defendin' him and that your little sister likes him so much pretty much guarantees that he's a pretty good person, right?"

"Even if that is so, I don't want to take any chances."

Marisa utters a loud, drawn out, exasperated groan and drags her hand down her face hard enough that she presents the lining of her eyelids and the inner side of her bottom lip to everyone present.

She looks toward the Scarlet Sister. "Okay, Flandre, it looks like there's no convincing her."

 _Oh, this is going to be_ bad _…_

Remilia can already tell what the words coming from the magician's mouth will lead to. And from the reactions that her heightened senses have allowed her to witness, Sakuya and Patchouli are having similar thoughts.

"So how about we blow just past these three and go get Kamijou? Sound good?"

Flandre looks at the magician like she just suggested something incredible, but after a moment she nods with a dangerous determined light in her eyes, something that instills unease in her heart. And from what she can tell, the same goes for her companions.

"You two, wait a second!" Patchouli pleas, but apparently it falls on deaf ears because the two blondes in front of them are already raring to go.

Nevertheless, she decides to share her sentiment. "R-really, you two! We don't have ti—"

A low humming and a bright scarlet light stops her short of finishing what she's saying, as Flandre is summoning balls of light in her hands. Beside her, Marisa is reaching into her skirt and pulls her hands out with a flask of unknown fluid in each. At the very least, though, it seems Patchouli knows from how she sighs upon seeing them.

"Gh…"

Groaning, Remilia tries to prepare herself for whatever forbidden barrage she's going to throw at her. Flandre is the stronger sister in terms of pure destructive power, but Remilia is stronger than her in pure vampire ability. She's stronger, faster, possesses more magical ability, and her regeneration is quicker and more effective. All of that being said, though, the gap as large as it sounds, so whatever fights they would get in will be a struggle.

 _This is ridiculous…_ I'm _the respectable older sister, yet somehow that magician has turned my own blood against me because of some boy they barely know!_

Her face contorts into a mixture of anger and disdain. How she wishes she could just go to him and deal with this herself…

 _To think that all it took to throw off her loyalty to me was a little human boy, and an Outside one, no less…_

She forcefully expels energy from her body, it manifesting as a scarlet aura around her body.

 _If she's going to try to resist me, I will be forced to subdue her, and that magician as well._

She focuses her power and makes it take shape into a form she is most familiar with: a spear, at least twice as long as her body is tall.

Clutching the magical aura-composed weapon in her right hand, she looks forward at her younger sister, fully prepared to intercept any attack the junior vampire throws at her.

"Woo, the big guns already, huh, Remilia?" Marisa wears the ridiculous grin on her face again as she eyes the scarlet spear with near-radiant golden eyes. Remilia, however, ignores her and watches Flandre carefully, for she is the one that can cause the largest amount of damage the quickest.

The balls in Flandre's hands fluctuate, and tiny spokes pop out opposite of each other on the sphere, there being four in total.

 _Oh, so it's going to be_ that _spell this time?_

Flandre's spell card, Taboo "Forbidden Games", is not one she uses often due to the low frequency of encounters she has with people outside of the mansion, but when she does use it it's nothing short of destructive. Normally, the only way it wouldn't cause massive property damage is if it were used in a wide space like the mansion's foyer or airborne outside.

The corridor that they're in is neither outside nor very spacious. Or at least, not spacious enough to accommodate such a spell. Yet, since the Scarlet Sister has never been one to worry about something like that, she continues to build up the attack without restraint.

The elder vampire, of course, is of no mind to worry about property damage either, not only because she's not one to put property over lives, but because any kind of property damage can and will be swiftly repaired by her Chief Maid.

' _Thuk!'_

The dull sound of metal making blunt contact with flesh rings through the hallway and disrupts her concentration so much that she loses her hold on the energy of her spear and it dissipates.

"S-Sakuya…?"

The time-manipulating maid is situated behind the Scarlet Sister with a knife in hand, the handle pointed toward the girl's neck.

"E-eh?" The magic concentrated in Flandre's hands dissipates, and her arms go limp, her eyelids begin to droop, and her figure seems to falter in weakness.

"F-Flan?" At this point, Patchouli and Marisa process what has transpired, as they both look aghast at the state of the younger vampire. Somehow, Marisa is making her version of the expression more uncouth than Patchouli's, and if the circumstances were more jovial she'd make a snide remark about it.

Obviously this is not such a time.

"Sakuya," she repeats herself as she eyes the maid cautiously, "What is the meaning of this?"

Upon hearing the questioning tone of her mistress, Sakuya bows quickly before supporting the weight of the now-unconscious sister. "I am deeply sorry, Mistress, but as you were trying to say to these two before, we simply do not have time for this. Forgive my impetuousness, but I was only taking the initiative in making sure Flandre-sama could not catalyze the situation further."

"…"

Remilia doesn't respond, and settles for watching the maid rest the younger vampire against the wall.

In her silence, Marisa speaks up. "But to attack your mistress's sister…" She whistles. "You've got some balls. Ya sure you're not a tanuki, rather than a dog?" [3]

Sakuya's eye twitches. "I thought we had already established that I was a _human_ , Marisa."

The Ordinary Magician shrugs and starts juggling the flasks in her hands. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Silver." She flashes a mischievous grin at her and begins to juggle faster. "But ya know, I don't think I like ya ignorin' me as a threat, ze."

Sakuya raises a challenging eyebrow and crosses her arms as she moves away from the younger sister. "Marisa, I do not believe I did anything of the sort. I simply addressed the most dangerous threat first."

"Hm." Marisa stops juggling, letting both flasks complete their motions to fall in each hand, her catching them by the neck of the bottles. "Well, as long as ya understand."

Sighing, the slightly-older maid reaches down to her knife holster on her left leg and retrieves three blades from it, one with a red handle, one green handle, and one blue handle. "Do you really not realize the gravity of the situation?"

"Isn't askin' that kinda redundant? Pretty sure one of ya asked me that a couple minutes ago."

Beside Remilia, Patchouli sighs exasperatedly. "Marisa, Sakuya, could you two please— _really?_ "

The magician youkai is prevented from finishing her sentence by Marisa chucking one of her flasks at her, forcing Patchouli to respond with a little something of her own—a small magic barrier.

However…

"Wah!"

The projectile was redirected by none other than Sakuya, who seems to have taken the bottle while stopping time and made it change direction so that the flask is heading toward Marisa from the maid's direction.

It seems Marisa expected this to some extent, however, since she ducks it easily and while in the crouch she tosses the other flask in her possession at the ground by Sakuya's feet.

With a collective crashing, the two bottles make impact with the wall behind Marisa and the ground, and in their wake clouds of bluish gas manifest and drift lazily where their vessels remains lay.

Slowly, the gases begin to spread, and Sakuya narrows her eyes at Marisa. "What is this?"

Marisa grins again. "A certain gas mixed with some magic mushrooms. You're gonna _love_ what this'll do to ya."

"I am positive that I will not."

"And I won't either," Patchouli adds as she holds out her hand toward the Ordinary Magician, a teal light beginning to shine on her palm. "You really need to just _not_ , Marisa. Not right now."

The magician raises an eyebrow. "Fine, fine. I'll stop," She says while letting her expression mellow out and her hands drop to her side. Strangely, she concedes very quickly and easily, and the only motion is everyone's faces aside from Marisa's contorting in confusion and the lazy undulation and drifting of the blue gas clouds, which are very near to becoming one.

 _Wait…_

The mischievous glow in her eyes didn't abate despite conceding, and she's not moving from her spot or doing anything about the gas cloud that she's responsible for. She doesn't know what exactly that gas does, but coming from Marisa it's probably not going to be an air freshener.

The gas clouds finally expand to become one, and Remilia and Patchouli find that they're right at the edge of it, whereas Sakuya and the Ordinary Magician are situated inside of it.

The blonde smiles. "Just kiddin', ze."

Two things happen in this instant.

Marisa snaps her fingers, and though the magician youkai and head maid probably aren't able to notice this, Remilia is able to clearly see a tiny flash where her fingers meet and separate.

The other thing that happens is a transparent blue ball begins to expand from a center point located somewhere in Marisa's chest, and it expands to cover her body.

From where the tiny spark appears between her fingers (likely because of magic), the gas erupts into a turbulent inferno, spreading wind and flames every which way inside of the corridor from where they stand.

The reaction spreads within the gas cloud with nightmarish speed, and though such an attack she can easily avoid or withstand, she still finds herself surprised at the display. So much so that she can only stand and watch as it approaches her.

Then she realizes something.

Sakuya was _right in the middle of the gas cloud_.

Though Remilia knows that the maid is perfectly capable of surviving such a blast, especially since she's almost certain that the flames here are spell card regulated, she still has massive concern for her trusted maid facing the brunt of the blast.

"Sakuy—"

The noise of the explosion is stopped abruptly and the space around the explosion distorts, making it so translucent walls appear and enclose the reaction.

"Yes, mistress?"

The voice of the Perfect and Elegant Maid comes from above her, where most people don't think to look, and turning her vision upward she sees Sakuya descending from a spot in the air, away from the dangerous explosion.

"E-eh?" The vampire looks back and forth between the contained explosion, which has as of now been rendered motionless in what is probably Sakuya freezing the box's time, and what has happened clicks in her head. "Oh. I forgot you could do that. Manipulate space in that manner, that is."

Beside her, Patchouli opens up her squeezed-shut eyes and peers out at the scene. "…Perhaps I should say a prayer for Marisa?"

Looking to her best friend, she thinks about Marisa being stuck in the explosion and pointedly decides that, if she weren't an unholy being, she'd pray for her as well. While she can assume that the explosion is spell card-regulated, the sheer stimulus might be able to put her out for the count if that familiar-looking barrier that she put up can't withstand it.

"I think that would be a good idea." Sakuya says calmly, though the calmness with which she said it is enough to worry her. "Now, let us see if she can resist after this."

"Even if she can, it won't be for long," Patchouli says as she looks at the boxed-in explosion. "Not with that cheap reproduction of Jellyfish Princess, at least." The purplette magician claps her hands together. "May the Yama not judge her too harshly, Amen." [4]

Under her breath, Remilia can swear she hears her say "Good riddance", but she doesn't comment on it. Instead, she watches as Sakuya closes her eyes in concentration, and the walls begin to push inward toward Marisa's general location in the mess.

 _O-oh my…_

The box collapses to be just barely bigger than the spherical barrier around Marisa—that is to be said, not very big, given the blonde's height, and that action compresses the explosion. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going to happen here.

Snapping her fingers, the explosion roars to life in full force within its sturdy container, roiling around inside in a display that's nearly mesmerizing to the five-century-old vampire.

"Impressive…"

The maid turns and bows slightly. "Thank you for the compliment, Mistress."

The mansion triumvirate stands silently as they watch the flames churn inside the box. If Marisa was inside of there screaming in agony or some such, she doesn't hear it, and that's even with her heightened senses.

 _The flames should be spell card regulated, but there is a chance she's in there and burning alive…_

She takes a moment to deliberate. _Maybe I should get Sakuya to release her, now…_

The vampire opens her mouth to speak, but a certain purplette interrupts her with words of her own.

"Um, not to be rude or anything, Sakuya, but at this rate you're going to kill Marisa, spell card rules or not."

The maid doesn't respond immediately. Instead, she looks to Remilia, her face asking for permission to do as Patchouli requested through implication.

The mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion nods, and the silver-haired maid closes her eyes, the translucent space enclosing the explosion disappearing shortly afterward.

A rush of hot air blows through the corridor as the energy is released from its closed space, and the blast dies down, revealing the human within it.

However, she's definitely not in the state they expected.

Marisa is standing there in front of them, in the middle of the settling dust with no injuries to speak of besides the ones that were there from before she confronted them. The only thing she has to show from the blast is a lack of breath and a nosebleed.

"Hoo~, I knew copyin' Jellyfish Princess would come in handy one day. I might've been in real trouble there if I didn't." She flashes her trademark grin at them through her fatigue and wipes her nose and lips clean of the blood with the back of her hand. "Even if those flames were spell card regulated, they still burn with oxygen. I really coulda died there, ze."

The youkai magician sighs and looks down at the ground in front of her. "What's with this feeling of disappointment…"

A shocked expression takes its place on Marisa's face. "Oi oi, Patchouli, isn't that a little cold to say after seein' that I'm fine? I thought we were friends!"

She scoffs. "I'm sorry, are we talking about fantasy or reality here?"

The magician remains unfazed and gives her a thumbs-up. "I'd say both. We _are_ in Gensoukyou after all."

Remilia's finding herself very irritated at this exchange. Do they really not realize how pressed they are for time?

Well, Marisa's made herself out as an enemy, so she supposes she's not as concerned about time as Remilia and her trusted companions, but Patchouli is one of those two companions. This should be no time to be bickering like they are now.

"Pache, can you please focus on the task at hand," the vampire asks of her, not requiring a verbal response.

"Oh, come on, Remilia, why ya gotta be such a party pooper?"

"Because this is no time for partying, or anything of a jovial nature, for that matter."

The magician girl lifts her hat up off her head for a moment and rubs her head. "That so? 'Cuz I sure don't feel that way. The worse the situation, the more reason to keep your spirits up."

"Tch. So irresponsible," she hears Patchouli say, and it seems Remilia isn't the only one to hear that, with how Marisa's eye twitches and she turns to glare at the magician.

"Alright, fine then. I'll stop playin' around." The magician cracks her knuckles and looks at the two of them, no longer with a playful air to her like there was before. "I've wasted enough time as it is, anyway. I gotta make sure that you guys don't put Kamijou in the dirt too early."

Within an instance, the blonde magician's hand reaches into her skirt and pulls out her hakkero, aims it at the two of them, and says two words.

"Master Spark!"

Remilia wastes no time responding. "Sakuya!"

The maid nods in understanding of the implied command. "Yes, Mistress."

The wall of colorful light approaches the trio…

And then they find it moving away from them.

Staggering to keep her balance from the instantaneous movement her maid subjected her to, she quickly looks around her to ensure Patchouli is safe as well.

The magician is alive and well, though she looks a bit nauseous from the movement and is hunkered over. "God, I hate that," she mutters.

Being far more accustomed to the instantaneous transportation, though, Remilia recovers and looks forward, toward the biggest change in surroundings there is in that situation.

A certain blonde-haired magician is there with her back toward the trio, clueless to the fact that her targets aren't on the receiving end of her laser.

A feeling of relief comes across Remilia at the opening to victory over this very, very mild nuisance. After the human magician has been dealt with, there will be no other immediate or truly threatening obstacles to dealing with the Outsider.

But one thing at a time. First Marisa, then the Outsider.

"Sakuya, go on and deal with—"

She gasps before she finishes the command, making Sakuya wait for it while wondering what's wrong with her. Out of the corner of her eye, it seems Patchouli is curious as well.

"Marisa…Go deal with Marisa, Sakuya."

She bows to her mistress. "Understood."

Before she sees the maid do anything else, she turns to face the right wall of the corridor; the wall that is connected directly outside.

This has been stated before, but it is to be understood that vampires have heightened senses, especially sight, hearing, and smell.

Of the ones that are enhanced, though, smell is the most intense of them all, especially when it comes to blood.

She could only smell it briefly because of the pouring rain, but blood was spilled outside. There wasn't a lot, but it was enough to alert her immediately of its presence.

But that's not what made her react so strongly. It wasn't the presence of blood that made her react as she did, but the smell _on_ the blood and the proximity to the wall; the person whose blood was spilled.

Yes, the boy with the target on his chest is right near the wall of the mansion.

There may be no better chance to get him than now.

Behind her, she is half-aware of the dull thudding of a knife hilt on human flesh, as she is focused on trying to pinpoint the Outsider's exact location along the wall.

"Remi? What's wrong now?"

"I sense the Outsider."

"Huh?" The magician walks up beside her and peers at the wall. "You mean, like, along the wall outside?"

Remilia nods and continues narrowing down his location.

"Well, why are we just standing here," Patchouli starts as she begins to walk back the way she and Sakuya came, moving around Marisa's unconscious body and Flandre's legs, "Let's go deal with him, too. The sooner we claim that hand of his, the sooner we all will be able to rest."

The vampire is more than content to let her keep going as she focuses on the search even further.

"…Got him."

She's fairly certain that the boy is near one of the windows she had installed in the corridors in recent years, and though she is aware of the presence of someone else near him as well (likely Meiling, from what Sakuya told her), they're not quite close enough to be hurt lethally by what she's thinking of doing to the Outsider.

She holds her hand out by her side and focuses her overwhelmingly massive magical power into a focused shape. Wispy tendrils of crimson flow from her body and converge into a familiar shape: A lance.

Yes, Remilia's Lance of Gungnir.

Normally this would be used in her spell card 'Divine Spear "Spear the Gungnir"', but this time there's no game involved. Only lethal magical energy intended to cause lethal damage.

If only because she wanted to waste no time, she's willing to destroy part of the mansion's walls in order to take him down while he's this close. Of course, with her strength she could just punch the wall and it would come crashing down, but she'd rather not get so close to him for fear he may unleash whatever _that thing_ that he has is on her.

There's a low, intense humming coming from the magic-composed weapon as she raises her arm above her head to throw it in his direction.

Before she winds up to throw it forward, though, she looks back on Sakuya.

"…"

"Yes, mistress? Is something bothering you?"

Remilia just looks at her most trusted servant and friend alongside Patchouli, and then turns back to the Outsider's approximate location near the wall. Perhaps she had some subconscious feeling that Sakuya was against what she was doing, but she can't detect anything like that from her maid.

Regardless, though, she decides to ask.

"Sakuya, just as a last-minute check…will you think any differently of me if I release this spear and kill him?" She keeps her eyes trained on where she senses him, not wanting to see her chief maid's expression.

"Mistress, you already know that I stand wherever you stand in these matters. While I do appreciate the considerateness, please worry not about my opinion and focus on what you want to do." She hears the maid's clothes rustling her as she likely shifts her position. "I will support you in any way I can, so do as you see fit, Mistress."

The vampire finds herself smiling at her servant's words and feels an intense feeling welling up in her chest; her newly-intensified resolve.

However, before she can act, there's still another person she needs assurance from. It will be kind of difficult since she's by now a long way toward the exit of the mansion, but she can instead settle on Sakuya's answer as representative.

"And what of Pache, Sakuya? Do you think she'll be okay with it?"

"…Well, she will definitely have her objections to it, but I doubt it will be anything long-term." The maid says this thoughtfully after a short pause. "Besides, haven't you two disagreed over far worse and have bounced back relatively quickly in the past?"

 _Ah…_

That's absolutely right. And since it is true, it is time to carry out what she intended.

"Thank you, Sakuya."

The maid doesn't respond, so she imagines that she must have nodded her head in response and she cocks her hand back in preparation to throw the projectile.

A mental countdown starts up without her intending to.

 _Five…_

Patchouli's receding footsteps suddenly stop.

 _Four…_

They begin to come back their way.

 _Three…_

Patchouli turns the corner, looking at the mistress and servant. "Might I ask why I found myself alone on the way toward the exit—wait, what do you think you're doing, Remi?"

 _Two…_

The vampire nor the maid respond: the maid turning to face her mistress's best friend while the mistress herself remains focus on the faint sound of the Outside human on the outside of the wall. Having known Patchouli's personality for so long, she can guess what's going to come from her next.

 _One…_

The magician seems to put two and two together like Remilia expected because she hears her start muttering strings of words in an ancient language, and feels the magical power in the area increasing substantially.

So there are two things she can do here.

She can rush the shot while Patchouli finishes the incantation on the spell and try to dodge on extremely short notice, or turn her attention over to dealing with the dangerous magician youkai and let the Outsider possibly escape.

Remilia takes little time deliberating as she selects an option.

"Sakuya!"

"Yes, mistress." The human maid being in perfect sync with her mistress at this point in her service moves to take the alternative action to the two that were listed—her intercepting the spell so Remilia can focus on her objective.

There's a flash of light to her left as Patchouli fires off a spell and Sakuya stands in its way.

Zero.

She takes a deep breath, and the words leave her mouth before she realizes she was saying them.

"Spear the Gungnir!"

The destructive projectile capable of blowing through an entire row of houses in the Human Village leaves the vampire girl's hand and flies toward the wall. There's no doubt the wall is going to be like paper in the wake of the Divine Lance, and even if the lance itself doesn't hit the boy, the rubble from the wall will.

But even if that is so, two faint words managed to chill her heart ever so slightly as she hears them over the sound of the lance and from the other side of the wall.

"Watch out!"

Just _who_ was it being said to over there?

Why was it being said? Was it because of her own attack or something happening on the other side?

If it's the former, _how did that Outsider know her attack was coming?_

Those questions run through her head as the lance flies to hit its target.

* * *

The pain had reached a point beyond being described with merely 'unbearable'. It was unendurable. It was breath-taking, movement-stopping. It was the type of pain that rendered people unable to function. It was all-consuming.

By this point the laser has died down, and if tears weren't blocking his vision Kamijou would be looking to see if there was any support in the form of a certain Kirisame Marisa.

You can guess one reason why tears were even present at all, but the other reason is not so serious. In fact, compared to the magnitude of his preexisting injury, this is more like a minor nuisance. Though no matter how minor it may seem in comparison, it could still very well mean the end of him if left alone.

Said nuisance is the death grip Hong Meiling has on his body in two places. One is around his waist, where she's applying _ungodly_ pressure to his hipbones, as if crush the edges of them, and the second is around his neck, where the pressure of her arms is mimicking a hydraulic press on him against her chest.

"Gh…!"

Keeping his hand forward for fear of causing himself further pain by moving it, he grasps at the Chinese youkai's arm in hopes of freeing himself.

 _Come on, let go!_

Through labored breaths and a pounding head, he digs his nails into her skin and tries to claw his way out of the hold.

"Ah—Stop that, Outsider!"

"Kah!"

Instead of slackening, her hold tightens on both fronts.

 _Not…working…!_

So that failed spectacularly, but he has a threatening lack of resources—most notably oxygen—that can help him get out of this mess.

But even if he's short of those vital resources, he has to try something. He can't let himself go down here, after all he's survived!

He uses his left again and reaches wildly behind him, pinching the first thing he comes in contact with.

The response is immediate.

"Yah?!"

The normal high school boy feels the pressure around his neck disappear and the air return to his lungs. The breath almost felt like the sweet nectar of the Olympian gods quenching his thirst for air.

Seriously, it was so cathartic he had to resist falling to a knee so he could focus less on standing and more on breathing.

He takes a few more breaths on shaky legs and turns toward the youkai responsible for making him feel this way, remaining on his guard while slowly lowering his right hand.

Roughly five meters away from him, the martial artist youkai is standing facing him with a red face in a much more defensive position than he's seen her in the whole fight.

"I seem to have m-misjudged you, Outsider…To attack such a place to achieve your goal…Have you no shame?!" Meiling asks this in outrage while pointing an accusing digit his direction.

' _Have I no shame'…What does she—_

It clicks. He's been through enough of this type of nonsense to have a semblance of an idea of why she would say that.

He thinks back on him pinching recklessly not even a full minute ago.

He thinks on what exactly he pinched.

A full, ripe peach comes to mind.

He groans both internally and externally. Internally because of the situation, externally because of the pain.

Through gritted teeth and exasperated eyes, he says, "Meiling-san, let me clear up right now that that was an accident! This Kamijou did not intend to touch you there!"

He defends himself with a contrastingly energetic tone to make it seem more earnest. He doesn't need her attacking him with any more than she is now because of some misplaced embarrassment revenge.

She narrows her eyes at him in skepticism. However…

"…Fine. Then let us get back to business." The blush recedes from the redhead's face and she moves back into her regular stance, signaling her intention to continue fighting.

Kamijou, however, can only gulp in response.

 _I don't think I can take another round of this…Not with this hand…_

He attempts to move only a single digit on his right hand, and the constant ache turns into an intense stabbing pain that takes his breath.

 _Yeah, I definitely won't be able to like this._

He inches backward. In the forward direction lies the mansion, where the source of all his pain is at the moment. Behind him is the gate to the mansion, but it's a lengthy distance in that direction. He has a lot of experience in running, but Meiling without a doubt is the better athlete in general. She would catch him, no problem.

But if he can lure her there and get a good strike in while close enough, he can make a successful escape.

He takes a bigger, more noticeable step back to bait her into attacking that way, and then he takes note of anything he can use to give him an edge in this defensive offense he's about to lead.

Unfortunately, the grounds are kept extremely well, so his chances of finding something laying around to help him are slim to none. The items he has on his person, however, are another story.

 _Okay, my blazer, my phone, a pack of gum, a pen, and my wallet..._

Alright, so maybe the story isn't so different for these items, but at this point he has no luxury to choose.

He eases his left hand to his pocket holding his phone as he backs up farther.

 _Come on, take the bait…!_

The youkai takes a decisive step forward, and Kamijou puts his plan into motion.

He turns on his heel and sprints away, using every ounce of his strength and experience in escape to keep ahead of the extraordinarily fit youkai. Judging from the sound of the footsteps, he has a significant lead on her, but he has no doubt that she'll catch him some time before he reaches the gate.

To try and increase his chances of survival, he begins to reach in his pockets to retrieve an object to throw at her to distract her, but before he can even get halfway into his pocket he feels an intense shudder, as if he were responding involuntarily to a skeleton stroking his back.

 _Something's coming!_

He responds to his Precognition by cutting to the left.

A blinding light floods his vision, leaving it just as fast as it came.

He stares in disbelief as the light—a blast of energy about the size of a tire flies past him and fizzles out as it nears the gate of the mansion.

 _So isn't just a fighter type; she's a ranged type too?_

This changes things a bit. Not a lot, since the plan is the same, but now it involves having to weave through attacks and possibly even block them, the latter of which poses an obvious problem.

 _Shit!_

He grits his teeth and throws his body to the right, letting another projectile fly past him with scarily close proximity.

Quickly disregarding the bullet as it leaves an area where he has to worry about it, he risks another peek back at the youkai to see when the next attack is coming…

"...!"

The youkai is almost in arm's distance and he isn't even halfway to the gate. As it stands, the plan is a bust. Now he has to find a way to turn a desperate escape attempt into some type of offensive strategy, because there's no way he's going to land any hit strong enough to give him enough of a lead to get out of the mansion before she does.

He loses luxury to choose, though, when the youkai suddenly gains a burst of speed, closing the rest of that distance with nightmarish speed.

Thinking quickly, he reacts as quickly as he can with the first thing he thinks of.

He grabs the blazer around his waist with his left hand and yanks it off, then he turns around and whorls the clothing around with him, the article whipping around her face and obscuring her vision.

He hears a short yelp from the youkai as he releases the garment, veering off to the side and letting her run past in the process.

 _That'll only hold her for a few seconds, so what to do now…?_

He looks at the youkai, then past her at the gate, then back at the mansion, then at his person and back at the youkai, and he reaches into his pants pocket, searching for another tool to use to follow up his use of his blazer. After digging into both of his pockets his hand falls on one such thing.

He pulls out the pack of gum and aims to an area left of Meiling, the direction opposite of the gate of the mansion, and he tosses the pack at the ground there.

In normal circumstances this wouldn't do anything to help him, but since her vision is obscured for these few fleeting seconds she should react in the direction she hears the sound.

' _Clack!'_

"Haa!"

She reaches one hand up to her face to remove the blindfold and the other hand hand glows a bright blue as she thrusts it toward the diversion.

At the same time, he begins moving back toward the gates of the mansion, stepping lightly so she can't hear him as he moves away—

 _SHIT SHE HEARD ME!_

That bright blue ball comes his way _fast_ as she whips around and throws off his blazer, and he's in such an awkward position as it comes that he has to throw his whole body backwards to dodge it.

Within inches of his body the ball of blue energy flies past, and he lands flat on his back on the ground with an audible thud. He would have broken his fall but there's a chance he would have messed up and landed on his right hand. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how this day would end if that were to happen.

He wastes no time getting up despite his temporary lack of breath, but he gets no chance to coordinate his next move as the girl quickly rushes within striking distance, her leg out to the side in preparation for a kick.

Kamijou's been in enough fights to know what kind of kick this is going to be.

 _That positioning...is she about to do a sweep?_

As he sees the low motion starting in his direction, he pushes off the ground into a low jump to dodge the kick…

"Khah?!"

There's a crushing feeling in his midsection and he feels his motion stall with the contact, for some reason coming from the opposite side of where he expected.

In this fleeting moment in time, he sees the foot that she was winding up with has turned into her planting foot, and her other leg's knee is in contact with his abdomen.

His view rapidly changes as he's suddenly turned to face the grand Western-style mansion on its head, and then he feels a weightlessness in his stomach and air rushing past his face and through his hair.

If he weren't so out of it from that crushing blow to his stomach, he would have realized what was happening.

He was flying through the air for the second time today, and for the second time without any kind of consent. If he had service he would call the police and report it.

The ground was slowly ascending to scrape off his skin, and the wall of the mansion was slowly approaching to press him into a fine slice of Kamijou-loney, and there was no way to stop it. He could always find ways to reduce damage, but there will be no way to escape it.

He rights himself and begins tucking his body to try and at least roll with the momentum since he's going to reach the ground before the wall, but…

"Ghk!"

He feels a disorienting impact in his side, throwing his vision and thoughts into disarray.

He starts rolling across the ground, tangled up with something or someone else as he tumbles and feels impacts all over his body. All of this was bearable, though. What made this truly bad was the impact as he rolled to a stop, where whatever or whoever it was that hit him _landed on his wrist._

His mind goes totally blank.

"—!"

His voice catches in his throat as he involuntarily attempts to scream.

"Ugh...I have to admit, that wasn't my smartest idea…"

A familiar feminine voice comes into Kamijou's ears, and he looks to his right at the source.

 _K-Koakuma…?_

The little devil shakes her head and looks to the boy with a slightly quizzical expression, as if she forgot he was there with him. After a second though, she returns to cognizance and looks at him, then her position, and she seizes up like she did when he addressed her back when she was disarming the fairies in the courtyard. She hurriedly scoots off of his arm.

Immediately dismissing his own strife, he turns his concern toward the Unmoving Great Library's servant.

"T-thanks for that," he says with a scratchy voice and a grimace from pain. "For bringing me back down to earth. You okay?"

She nods and coughs dryly, flushed with the same shade of pink she was earlier, and she stands up.

Careful to not disturb his throbbing right hand, he follows her lead and picks himself up off of the ground shakily while continuing to wonder about her strange response.

"Koakuma-san, are you sure okay? I know I've already asked this, but it only seems like you're getting worse…" Despite him needing to be worrying about himself rather than her, he asks anyway, true enough to his nature.

She hesitates noticeably, her lips parting slightly as she looks to try to say something but can't get it out. Instead, she turns toward the direction from which Kamijou was thrown and says softly, "I'm…fine. I'm going to go try to tie up Meiling-san, so you make use of that to get out of the mansion, Kamijou-san."

She spoke quickly and bluntly, and even though she spoke quietly it was still easy to hear and comprehend what she said.

But even if that is the case, he still can't come to terms with it.

"Koakuma-san, you know I can't do that. I'm not going to—"

"I live and work here, Kamijou-san. Even if I'm giving myself to help you escape, it's not like anyone's going to kill me," she says matter-of-factly to try and appease him.

It's not enough.

"But—"

Koakuma's right wing twitches. "Oh, fine!" She seems to already know what the boy wants to say, and even whirls around to look at him, her eyes wild and irritated. "If you want to help me out so much, do so by getting out of here successfully!"

Upon closer inspection, it looks like the girl's eyes have a slight glow to them, her body seems to have gotten… _fuller_ , somehow, and her breathing is getting labored.

 _She really isn't okay._

The girl starts to hold a hand to her head, and Kamijou can't stop himself from trying to help any longer. "Koakuma-san, please, you aren't okay; I don't care what you say anymore," he eyes the approaching Hong Meiling with apprehension as he reaches toward the Little Devil, "you need to—"

' _Slap!'_

"D-don't touch me!"

He yanks his hand back. _Good thing I didn't use my right hand for that…_

Kamijou is taken aback for a short time, but then he analyzes the girl's tone. It's not hostility or anything like that, but _desperation._ The emotion is expressed in her face as well.

Faced with that type of emotion from her, he has no choice but to begrudgingly leave her be.

She opens her mouth again, the wild look in her eyes lessening just a little bit. "C-can you please just focus on getting out of here, please? Don't worry about me, okay?"

Again, being faced with that emotion, he has no choice but to begrudgingly concede. "...I understand." He turns to face the rapidly-approaching gate guard, and the succubus servant does the same.

 _Wait, if it's still taking all this time for her to get to us….just how far did she throw me?!_

He knows she's a youkai, but what kind of crazy strength is that? She threw him across most of the courtyard!

Koakuma summons a red orb in her hand as Kamijou readies himself a short distance behind her, both waiting for the Chinese youkai to come in range.

"Kamijou-san."

"Yeah?"

She raises the ball above her head as Meiling comes within 5 meters of them.

"Go."

With that one command, the lesser succubus throws the ball at the ground in front of Meiling and it explodes into a cloud of red fog.

 _A smokescreen…_

Kamijou pushes off, running toward the right edge of the smokescreen while Koakuma runs toward the center to hold up the youkai caught in the center of it.

He carefully slides his right hand into his pocket with the possible chance that his hand touching it would clear it and reaches the boundary of the cloud, sounds of combat already coming from the two girls' direction.

 _Okay, so since this is the edge of the cloud it should be thinner, both in its density and distance. Once I break through this I should be home free, if Koakuma-san can keep Meiling-san occupied._

Running through the plan of action in his head, he advances into the scarlet fog to his freedom.

Not even two steps in, something swings around to cover his face before he can react.

"Hu—ack!"

He feels a tug on his collar so sudden and powerful it hurts his neck, and for the second time in three minutes he feels that weightless feeling as he's thrown through the air _back the way he came_.

He struggles to get his right hand out of his pocket and reaches at the material covering his face with his left, yanking it off of him when he gets a full hold.

 _My blazer?!_

He begins to try to determine who threw him—he's sure it was Meiling, but it doesn't hurt to check—but he thinks it better to focus on landing safely first.

He looks down to see how close the ground is to his mostly-horizontal flying body, and—

 _OH GOD THIS IS GOING TO HURT!_

"GAH!"

His back hits the ground and all of the air leaves his lungs as he slides numerous meters across the ground, the sliding shredding his shirt and going to work on his skin as he feels the stinging pain on his back.

He slides to a stop, winded and in even more excruciating pain than he was before, and all he can do is lay there to try and recover and muster up enough will to push himself back up despite the pain and retry his escape.

No one would blame him if he laid down there and gave up, especially considering how unfriendly this world is to humans like him, but a single thought back to his world—the Outside World and the people he's left behind there strengthens his resolve.

With people like Index, Misaka Mikoto, Komoe-sensei, Leivinia Birdway, his parents, and even Othinus in mind, he grits his teeth through the searing pain his back is in and pushes himself up with his left hand only, for reasons that are impossible for him to forget.

He puts his blazer on his shoulder and reaches around with his left hand to feel the extent of his injuries, and feels the cloth of his shirt shredded like he thought, and slickness when he touches his skin that he doesn't even have to look at to know it's not sweat or rain, but blood.

Taking his blazer back into his hand, he looks forward to check to see if it was indeed Meiling responsible for his most recent flight.

Confirming it, there Meiling is, doing battle with Koakuma where guesses he got thrown from, the red fog already having dissipated through one method or another. The Chinese youkai is pressing the attack on the succubus while she dodges past her attacks barely, and fires small bursts of magic from her hands as counter-attacks. They're saying something to each other as they battle, but he was thrown far enough that he can't hear them clearly.

He takes a shaky step forward and begins to think of a way to get past Meiling, since she's driving Koakuma back towards him steadily despite the lesser demon's best efforts, but after a few moments of thinking he comes to the conclusion that all he can do is go for broke.

He takes his blazer in his hand to use as a diversion just in case, but before he begins to take a step forward, something happens with the two girls that makes him freeze.

Meiling sweeps Koakuma's legs out from under her, and keeping with the spinning momentum from the kick she comes back around and launches a vicious strike to the Little Devil's diaphragm. If Kamijou's eyes aren't messing with him he could have sworn he saw a red aura covering Meiling's hand as she struck.

This attack was enough to put the winged devil out, as she slumps forward over the fist and rolls off for a messy collision with the ground, if Meiling hadn't caught her and laid her down before that could happen.

She then looks at him as her next course of action, and wastes no time leaving the succubus to come charge at him.

Clutching the blazer in his hand tightly, he begins to advance forward to meet her halfway since beginning with defense will only back him into a corner. If he presses an attack, he gets more of a chance to break past her toward the gate. Looking back behind him, there isn't much room needed for him to reach that corner since he's only a 3 or so meters away from the wall. Kind of makes him wonder if his luck has finally come around since he didn't become a vegetable by hitting that wall, or if it's his trademark bad luck making sure he gets beat on by Meiling.

For sake of his sanity, he goes with the more positive choice.

He steps forward to begin his charge, but _again_ his advance is halted prematurely by something. This time it's the Chinese youkai _leaping into the air_ and raining small _chi_ crystals down on the area. From the deep sound of the collision with the ground, those things are _not_ hollow, and they are _not_ light. Couple that with the fact that these crystals are pointed and they are falling with those points down, even with Imagine Breaker he's not too keen to go into that deadly rain.

 _Not to mention it would hurt like hell to even move it to each individual one to block them._

He can say without shame that his reflexes are a little better than average, but even so he still isn't on the level of dodging rain. Even if this particular rain is pretty spread out, some of these gaps he's just not going to make it through.

That means he has to do the opposite of what he wanted to do.

He backs up toward the wall off the mansion itself, moving out of range of that deadly attack and preparing himself to run through right as it ends, but then he gets a chill down his spine.

Something was coming. He wasn't sure what or who it was, but something _really_ dangerous was going to hit him if he didn't move soon.

The Chinese youkai descends to the ground less than two meters away from him and immediately blends into something like a rushing punch, and the feeling of foreboding deepens greatly in the boy. He feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He yells at the same time he hears another yelling voice on the other side of the wall.

"Spear the Gungnir!"

"Watch out!"

A few things happen in quick succession.

Kamijou makes a mad dash for Meiling, trying to push her down and out of harm's way, but the Chinese youkai was prepared enough to use his momentum to sling him to the ground on his stomach.

Not even a second after, there's a heavy, wet-sounding thud. Hong Meiling hits the ground beside him, her now-bloodied head smacking violently onto the ground in front of his face with the rest of her body. Thankfully, her head wasn't removed from her shoulders, but the piece of debris that hit her left her with a nasty gash running from her forehead to somewhere up under her hair and out for the count.

His tender back is now screaming in agony with all the debris pelting it, ranging from pebbles to stones the size of soccer balls, but somehow none of it is hitting his head, limbs, or spine. He blames his bad luck, since it seems to be focusing on his back to cause as much pain as possible.

The edges of his vision are invaded by a scarlet glow, as a wind blows past him and Meiling that whips their hair and clothing, as well as the falling rain into a frenzy. Whatever it is must have been the thing responsible for blowing through the wall, but since the glow is steadily receding he can check on Meiling and dip for the gate. Hopefully whoever was responsible for that will lose him in the destruction.

He scoots himself the short distance to Meiling and props himself up on his right elbow, being careful not to disturb his right wrist as he turns himself onto his side to check for the redheaded youkai's pulse.

He breathes a sigh of relief even though he knows he shouldn't have worried, since she's a _youkai_. The girl is fine, just unconscious. This is one of those 'worse than it looks' scenarios.

He then cranes his neck to look behind him, toward the destroyed wall of the mansion to see who the attacker was, but the settling dust is too thick for him to see much through.

He switches his view forward, toward a point almost 50 meters ahead where the gates of the mansion lie…

...And his heart catches in his throat.

Koakuma, despite having been rendered unconscious moments ago by Meiling, has risen to her feet already. One would wonder if she had done it before or after the red projectile had passed, but one look at her is enough to know the answer.

The little devil is standing stock-still in the distance, with a _gaping hole in her side_.

Her wound is blatantly obvious even from this distance, and he can see her blood flowing uninhibited from it. The next moment comes, and she wobbles and falls into a pool of her own blood.

Without needing to think, the human boy pushes up from his position and runs as hard as he can to reach her.

"KOAKUMA-SAN!"

He practically slides to a stop on the rain-slicked ground as he goes to his knees beside her, gripping her gently by her shoulders and looking into her dazed eyes.

"Koakuma-san! Stay with me!"

His first instinct is to shake her to bring her back into focus, but he settles for yelling into her ear and waving his hand in front of her face. He's so focused on keeping her there that the feeling of her rain-diluted blood seeping into his clothes is near-negligible.

After a few moments of this, the hazy look in her eyes gives way.

"...Kah!..."

The girl coughs and tilts her head ever-so-slightly to look at him.

"Koakuma-san! Good, you're with me! Hold on a minute, I'll get you some help!"

Of course, he's not going to leave her there while he goes to get help; he only intends to stand up and yell for it. His only enemies are residents of this mansion, so if he calls them over and they see one of their own in this state they have to do something, even if it means his capture.

Not that he intends to get caught either.

But before he can get up, he feels a feeble tug on his pant leg.

"?"

"Kamijou-san...why?"

"Why...what?"

Her eyes, having already regained some sense of focus beforehand, are now looking at him intently. "Why did you—"

She starts coughing, stopping her from finishing her sentence, and she tugs yet again on his blazer—a sign for him to get closer.

"Don't force yourself to talk. If you can't, don't."

She seems to ignore what he said as she stares intently at him, her eyes adopting the same soft glow as before.

"Why...why did you touch me, Kamijou-san?"

Her voice gets sickly sweet and her pupils turn to slits, like a cat's.

"Even though I warned you not to…"

The voice is tickling his ears as he struggles to pull back, but she has shifted her grip to his ankle with _way_ more force than her condition should permit. He's getting another feeling that this is a grossly dangerous situation. "Koakuma...san…?"

Slowly, the girl pushes herself up off the ground, levitating halfway through it to bring her face on level with his.

There's but a whisper before she brings her lips to meet his.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

[1]: In _Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red_ , Flandre doubted the existence of Remilia's ability entirely, saying that "she just likes to talk that way", which would make Remilia's claim to such abilities just an act of pretense. To this day we still don't know the mystery of whether Remilia can truly manipulate fate or not.

[2]: Most girls in Gensoukyou wear bloomers, seeing as Gensoukyou is a pretty old-fashioned place still. Panties do exist and are used by some (I am making the call that the Tengu wear panties and not bloomers, if only because I can't see Aya as a bloomer type of gal), but you're more likely to see bloomers under a girl's skirt than panties. Youmu, Marisa, and Mamizou are examples that you can see quite clearly in the fighting games.

[3]: Tanuki, in traditional Japanese folklore, have testicles so massive they have to drape them over their shoulders. Also, Sakuya is called a dog kind of often because of her loyalty.

[4]: I worded that like it is because Shiki Eiki is the Yama and such.

 **A/N: So yeah. That's the end of that. Patchouli, Meiling, Flandre, and Marisa are down totally, and the fairies have been removed from the conflict. All that remain are Sakuya and Remilia on the Scarlet side, Touma on, well, the Kamijou side, and the now-uncertain Koakuma. Some of you may be wondering what the heck just happened with her, so let me just say that, when faced with death, the body does all it can to ensure its survival.**

 ***sigh* And now to address the elephant in the room. I have been inactive since June, for reasons like a bad breakup, lack of overall writing spirit, football, and the torture program that is the International Baccalaureate Programme. However, I have finally found a groove with all of the work I'm assigned, plus the football season is over so I no longer have time taken up by practices, and I GOT MY WRITING MOJO BACK. That's the main thing here. My mojo has returned.**

 **Now, as for this triple update I spoke of in the author's note of a story I began to get me back into writing entirely (called Bastards and Servility, a lax fanfic I put up about a month or so ago for those who don't know), this is not entirely an example of one of those. This chapter is done, so I've went along and put it up today. I'm going to put the finishing touches on the next one and that should be up by the 28th if I don't get too caught up with my Christmas presents. The next part of the update should be up by either the 30th or the 31st.**

 **To go over that again:  
Part one: Today, December 26, 2016.  
Part two: December 28, 2016.  
Part three: December 30 or 31, 2016.**

 **And now that that's out of the way, I'm going to go on and talk about the source material before I forget about it.**

 **So on the _Touhou Project_ side of things, we have the release of the PS4 version of Urban Legend in Limbo (December 8, 2016 was the release date), which has an Arcade mode, a new Overdrive difficulty, and an Extra scenario, which is essentially Reisen's story mode. I might have missed some things, but those came to mind first.**

 **Let me go on and say that, from what I watched on youtube in the playthroughs, that I was impressed with Reisen's moveset and Urban Legend (the _kunekune)_ and I like the arrange of her theme, and I love the spellcards for the Extra scenario, Byakuren's especially.**

 **But then we get to the finale, and I may have activated the ultimate fanboy mode with how things played out with the fight with Mokou. So amazing!**

 **I won't tell you what happened in the pre-fight dialogue or the epilogue unless enough of you want me to, though. ZUN said he was fine with showing the ending in playthroughs since it's not being ported to America, so you can see it on youtube without problems.**

 **Anyways, the next part of the Touhou side of things comes in the form of the announcement on December 11th. The announcement of the 15.5th game of the Touhou Project, _Touhou Hyouibana ~ Antimony of Common Flowers_. Reisen's story in ULiL was essentially a set up for this game. Check the wiki for more information.**

 **To the _A Certain Magical Index_ side of things...well, New Testament 17 was amazing, like always. Very much a struggle. But _oh my goodness_ was that ending worth it. Again, I won't spoil anything, this time even if you want me to, because some of you probably want to read it or wish to read it.**

 **Before I wrap this up, the result of the poll I had up on my profile had Rumia as the favorite Windows boss/midboss, and Wriggle and Kisume as the runners-up. My next poll has to do with your favorite Windows Era Stage 2 boss/midboss. Check my profile and vote, if you don't mind.**

 **This brings an end to my ramblings. Sorry to make you all wait for so long, but I'm back for now.**

 **Leave a review and such, and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	13. The Scarlet Devil Incident IX

**A/N: I don't have much to say here. Well, other than the fact that I am _terrible_ with deadlines. This is something like a week overdue. Sorry about that.**

 **Reviews (I appreciate these very much):**

 **Well...a lot of these reviews were welcoming me back, so thanks for that. Trust me, it's good to finally be back and all.**

 **Deep Sea Diver Man: Well, your first question is answered in this chapter. As for Othinus using Remilia's Gungnir as a replacement...hehe, for some reason I thought of little chibi Othinus throwing a sewing needle at Touma yelling "Spear the Gungnir!" Twas a good thought.**

 **ahmadhaikal28: Yeah...IB sucks, to be honest. I better get into a good college with how much trouble this is putting me through. As for how I got the mojo back...well, it kind of just came back to me after reading other people's fanfictions. For example, A Certain Unknown Level 0, Keys to the Heart, Night Falls ~ Evening Star, Imperfect Metamorphosis, to name a few. I wish you luck on your training and getting your mojo back though. I'm looking forward to the next novel and game as well, more than my words can express.**

 **Guest: Thank you, for continually pointing all of these errors out. I swear I'll get to fixing all of them...however I just don't know _when_. I'll figure it out.**

 **MrQuestionMark: Cliffhangers are amazing, but only when you're the one writing them. Haha.**

 **Humans are indeed the scariest though. Not only Sakuya, but all the playable characters and the rest of the relevant humans are pretty powerful in their own right. For example: Reimu's gotten so good at flying that she can _fly out of reality_ , Marisa is able to copy most spells she sees given enough time and can hold her own with some of the best through her sheer hard work, Sakuya can freeze time and manipulate space by extension, and she can even call on every instance of an object in the past and future and bring it all into the present. That's just a taste of some of the outrageous stuff these characters can do.**

 **Oh, how it did come to bite him in his ass. I really hate doing this to poor old Touma, but some things just have to be done, you know? It keeps things spicy.**

 **I'm glad you enjoy the story as much as you do, and I also hope that this can get you a bit into Touhou itself...though I will admit a lot of the canon stuff is left open enough that each author and artist can play with and develop certain things as they like.**

 **phuxeds: The dragons should have their appearance eventually. I agree that their sheer awesomeness shouldn't be left out of this story.**

 **Masterx01: I love me some cliffhangers. I enjoy keeping you readers on your toes. (Really, I just don't know how to end a chapter on anything other than a cliffhanger...I'll figure it out one day) And I know, third-person present tense isn't something you see every day, but that's just how I'm writing it in this story. I'm not too sure _why_ I chose present tense for this story, but I did, and since I've come this far I have to stick with it to the end.**

 **Server lock: Hm...I'll look into that and see if I can find the discrepancy and fix it. Also, do you mind telling me why you don't like precognition?**

 **Well, we've finally reached the end of this arc, so go on and read the chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Scarlet Devil Incident IX (End)**

* * *

"Mmf!"

The same sickeningly sweet aroma from his run-in with the succubus in the library is assaulting his senses mercilessly, overwriting his thoughts and thrusting him into a sort of out-of-body experience.

The feeling of Koakuma's slender hands gripping the sides of his head, the mesh of her soft lips against his, the sweet taste of her saliva as her tongue invades his mouth and wrestles with his own tongue for domination, and the irresistible scent wafting into his nostrils come together to eliminate the outside world; everything now is just him and her.

He wants to resist, to push away and regain a semblance of control, but his will to do so is rapidly disappearing, being drained away with the rest of his awareness and sense.

There's a pleasant buzzing in his ears, a euphoric sensation that's slowly spreading through his body and _why is it so hot?_

An unbearable heat is spreading from his chest out to the rest of his body, making him restless in the succubus's embrace. It's like a dam waiting to burst inside him.

He is restless, he feels his sense slipping.

But he is…content in that.

His mind's leaving him, and he doesn't mind.

…

 _Wait, isn't this_ really _bad?!_

Kamijou Touma feebly struggles against the alluring lesser demon, reaching up to pry his head free of the firm grip keeping his head in place for her to drain him.

He doesn't have much time before he succumbs to Koakuma's bewitching spell completely, so he rushes his escape attempt with a particularly risky move. If he does it too hard he could risk hurting her even more than she already is; too soft and it could come off as an encouraging move for her to continue and take things farther.

Steeling himself to do this and hoping to some higher being that he won't mess this up, he takes action.

"Hng!"

"Mmf?!"

Kamijou grunts and bites down on her invasive tongue, evoking a rather adorable squeal from Koakuma in response as her hold on him releases slightly.

He wrenches his face out of her grasp, taking a shaky few steps back to get some distance between them.

"Haa…haa…"

He reaches up to wipe his mouth free of the lingering saliva, even though the pouring rain would probably end up washing it away for him.

"Koakuma…san…why did you…do that?"

This is being asked for something like survival purposes and making sense of the action rather than him being flustered (not to say he isn't flustered; from what he can remember since his memory reset that day in the summer this is his first kiss), since this really isn't the time to be worrying about things like escaping with his purity.

"Sorry, Kamijou-san," she licks her lips lightly as her eyes carry that same desperate, predatory light from earlier. "I may be a youkai, but an injury like this is too drastic for me to recover from on my own. I might actually die if I don't get some kind of life force to help me regenerate."

He gets a reminder of the gaping hole in her side despite not needing it. Looking down at the grisly wound, though, he can see her skin, bones, and organs have reshaped a tiny bit due to how he can see it past the original hole made in her clothes.

She puts her hands together and cocks her head to the side—a jarring gesture considering how unfitting it is to her condition, and she opens her mouth to speak.

"So, hey, Kamijou-san, you're young and lively, right? Surely you wouldn't mind _sharing some of that energy with me_."

There's an unmistakeable pink glow flashing around her for a moment and immediately afterward he feels his legs moving him toward her on their own, almost being pulled toward her from his hips, just like that time in the library.

However, just like that time, he responds with placing his right hand on his legs to break the spell, but this time he does something different from the trial in the library.

"Gh!"

He stomps as soon as he regains control of his legs to plant and stop his movement, but trying plant that hard on the soaking wet ground caused him to slip.

 _Shit_ —!

' _Thud!'_

He hits the ground hard and he feels a small panic rise as his breath is forced out of his lungs and leaves him starving for oxygen, but he wastes no time pushing himself back up, exclusively with his left hand.

Too bad he doesn't get a chance to get all the way up.

With an ungodly speed, the little devil essentially mounts him and reengages the earlier snog-fest with renewed passion.

Last time, it was a gradual descent into madness, but this time it's incredibly aggressive, her moving her mouth with frightening skill and speed against his, in ways that would be impossible not to elicit a response to and sends a shudder through his body.

But above all, it's overwhelming.

It's too much stimulus. He can't even focus on resisting, with this intense, varied attack assaulting him and destroying his concentration. Shoot, even his energy.

This experience is so overwhelming it's physically draining him of his…

 _My energy...she's draining it!_

He writhes under her despite it feeling like it's making him tired faster, trying to break free of her controlling grip before he has no strength to move any longer.

 _Come on, come_ on!

He jerks his hips in an effort to dislodge the succubus on him, and he feels her weight shift over onto one side. In most situations if you play your cards right you can unbalance a person in that position and flip them over.

"GAHH!"

This isn't one such situation.

Kamijou forgot to protect the part of his body that needed protection most-his right wrist, and he pays the price for that with Koakuma regaining her balance and slamming her hand down on his wrist, sandwiching it between her restricting vice grip and the soaked ground beneath them.

"-!"

He seizes up as the shocking pain wracks his body and quells his brief resistance, succumbing to the aggressive succubus attack as the last of his power is sapped from his body. Between the agony from his hand and the power of Koakuma on top of him, it wouldn't be surprising if he lost his will to breathe. In fact, if this goes on any longer, that just might be the case.

He searches lethargically for any fight left in him, but in the state he's in mustering up even a little bit more fighting spirit might send his energy values into the red.

On the outskirts of his narrow awareness, he feels the rain pattering on his body and already-soaked clothes. In his vision he's restricted to seeing nothing but a scarlet curtain courtesy of the little devil's hair. On his tongue he can taste the oddly sweet saliva, he can smell that sickly sweet perfume, hear the slurping sounds of the violent kiss and the repetitive sound of the raindrops hitting the ground.

 _Someone...anyone, please!_

He was just your average high school boy. He didn't want to be involved in all of these crazy situations, meeting all of these crazy people and doing all of these crazy things.

But despite that, he's come to accept and grow fond of these crazy situations and people, and some of those people are waiting for him back in the Outside World.

Index, Misaka, Komoe-sensei, Kazakiri, his parents, his friends and brothers-in-arms Aogami and Tsuchimikado, Stiyl and Kanzaki in Necessarius, Birdway and Lessar, his newest friend in the Magic God Othinus, and many more people that he may not even realize are in his corner are all back at home waiting for him, and after all they've done for him he can't bear to let them down.

So he puts in one last effort—however futile and far-fetched may be, in doing something to save himself.

He can't open his mouth to say it, but he can at least think it. With all the extraordinary people he's surrounded by, even in this unfamiliar Gensoukyou, he's placing his faith in that someone will rescue him, if only by their own intuition.

 _Someone...anyone…! Please…_

 _ **Help me!**_

Seconds pass as the little devil seems to be frenzied now, snogging like her life depends on it (if you looked at her, she did look like it did), but contrary to his expectations and aligning with his hopes, a change comes.

' _Thuk!'_

There's a dull sound as metal strikes flesh, and almost immediately the girl's attack tapers off.

The girl's tongue lie still in his mouth finally, and whatever struck her clatters to the ground with a metallic rattling.

Using the meager strength he has left, he turns his body to the side to let Koakuma roll off of him onto the rain-covered ground with a light splash. He wants to pull his body up and check on the little devil's wound, but he fears that his current condition will prevent him from doing anything else.

Instead, he turns his head and tries to identify what knocked out Koakuma in his hazy vision.

Turning his head to the side, he unfortunately can't see her injury because it was on her left side and her right side is facing him, but he can see a knife with a blue handle.

 _That maid?!_

Remilia's maid, who was after his life on her mistress's orders, is the one who came to his rescue.

His question is _why._ Why would she of all people be the one to help him, especially since Meiling told him the recall order was a lie?

Were the gods being unfair again? Giving him this brief feeling of relief only to make his despair even stronger when she turns out to have some sort of personal grudge and wants to kill him herself?

Or is his luck finally turning around and she's having a deus ex machina-level change of heart?

At any rate, it seems he's going to find out soon.

A bit farther on the other side of Koakuma, he can see in his hazy vision the maid in question approaching.

* * *

Izayoi Sakuya, the chief maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, approaches the immensely de-energized Kamijou and the gravely injured and unconscious Koakuma with nary a bit of caution. After all, with her proficiency both with her weapon of choice and ability, there's not many opponents she has to worry about.

She casts a look to the gaping hole that is her coworker's wound. While it's not as bad as it was initially, as she saw after the dust cleared from the destruction her mistress' Gungnir wrought, it was still a sizable hole.

At least the skin on the outside finally reconnected.

Looking back to where she passed Meiling covered in rubble and unconscious with a bleeding gash on her head, she makes a connection to something she heard a couple minutes ago.

 _All of this looks eerily similar to the scene the Mistress described to me._

Casting that worrying thought aside, she approaches Kamijou, who's looking at her with a distant and confused expression.

He looks like something of a villain, what with being covered in blood that's confirmed to not be his, taking into account his position with Koakuma mere moments ago.

She won't question why she was doing what she was to Kamijou; it's easy enough to understand. Since Koakuma is a succubus and had been living in an environment almost totally devoid of men, she had to repress her nature to keep herself sane.

Upon receiving such a grievous wound, her body acted in interest of keeping her alive and flipped the switch back on, reawakening her appetite so she could do what she does best: drain the life force of her victim to replenish her own.

If you think about it this way, you could consider Koakuma a type of vampire. Not that that's really important.

"Now, Outsider...I do not wish for you to get the wrong idea about this. You may be wondering why I saved you, and I shall answer that question by saying _I did not._ "

A look of horror flashes across his face, but at the same time it looks like this was not unexpected. How right of him to feel that way.

He opens his mouth to respond, but he can't seem to speak properly after losing all of that energy to the little devil.

She continues. "I bear little ill will toward you, however I have my orders. My loyalty to my mistress is unwavering, so you _will_ die today."

This time without even waiting for him to struggle to respond, she wills her power on to freeze time.

She opens her mouth to speak again, the silence from the stopped rainfall making her words seem louder than they actually are.

"However, I am not heartless." She pulls a knife from the sheath on her leg, this one a special . "I can at least make this as painless as possible."

She walks around him to his right side, and he follows her movements with panic visible in his eyes. He's looking to be struggling with moving, trying to move his left arm and his legs in coordination to scoot away from her, but it's not working.

She kneels down beside him and takes his right hand in her left. He tries to pull away quickly but winces as she tightens her grip around his wrist, which she noticed in their first meeting to be quite badly injured.

Brandishing the knife, she holds it above his wrist.

"That being said, it is still going to hurt quite a bit. I plan to kill you while you are frozen in time, but to do that I'll have to remove your right hand." She presses the blade down on the edge of his wrist, nicking it and sending a fresh few droplets onto the blade and ground. He winces and inhales sharply.

"I advise you grit your teeth, Outsider. It may help you bear it until the end."

She then went to work on removing his hand, albeit with much resistance. She chose the serrated knife to more easily cut through bone, but it does good work on the tendons and viscera as well.

Drowning out the boy's agonized cries and screams, after a few minutes of saw-like motions the hand is finally free from his arm and both are spurting blood.

"May you rest well, Outsider."

Astoundingly, the boy seems to have kept his consciousness throughout the ordeal. That's rather unlucky for him, seeing as him passing out would mean he wouldn't have had to experience all of that fully.

However, his eyes adopt a hazy yet desperate look as he looks up at her.

He opens his mouth and says but one word.

" _Run…_ "

' _Run', he says. For what reason would he give that kind of ominous warning?_

Seconds after he says that, his freely-flowing blood stops moving mid-spurt from his body, and all colors around him become muted.

His time has finally stopped.

With that, she lays his still-twitching and bleeding right hand into a cloth she pulled from her pocket and wraps it up, then lays it on the ground, then approaches his body to finish the job.

 _Wait...something is wrong._

Space seems to warp around his severed wrist, and he begins twitching and moaning again despite his muted colors indicating he should be frozen.

"What is this..?"

She asks this incredulously as he writhes soundlessly on the ground, and the warped space around his hand spreads and continues to churn. As the space expands raindrops resume motion and proceed to bounce off of _whatever that is_.

She feels a pit start to form in her stomach as she feels herself start to shake involuntarily. She takes a few steps backward to put distance between herself and... _it_.

 _What is that? Why is it able to move in my frozen time?_

As soon as she thinks that, she sees it pulsate and _cracks begin to form_ _in the empty space_ , and it spiderwebs rapidly in all directions. These cracks are carrying the normal, bright colors of the world in the short space between each line, and _oh god it's getting closer_!

Sakuya moves away even quicker, and her eyes fall on the bloodied cloth his hand is contained in. Without thinking, she reaches for it and continues to move away from the frightening phenomenon.

She's scared. Terrified, even, of the unseeable encroaching force, the _invisible thing._

She trips on a piece of rubble and stumbles, but manages to keep her balance and keep moving.

But _it was too late by that point._

That minor stumble allowed the cracks to reach within a meter of her, and in hopes that the cracking would stop, she tries to make time resume…

 _My power isn't working, either?_

Nothing happened, and the cracking traveled to reach her.

The cracking spread painlessly through her, some traveling across her body but when she looked at it it appeared in a different position for each second she looked at it. Mesmerized, she reached to grab at one, but her hand touched empty air each time. When she lowered her hand back to her side, one crack seemed to move directly through her wrist, but again, she felt no pain.

Her palms were slick with nervous sweat, the Outsider's blood, and the rain, but she gripped her knife firmly and looked at the source of the disturbance: that invisible force spreading from the Outsider's severed wrist.

She clutches the knife and poses to throw it at the area she senses the terrifying presence of that invisible thing.

Sakuya lets that blade fly...and it disappears.

Vanishes.

Ceases to exist.

She can't help but express her confusion out loud.

"H-how…?"

Her composure is totally gone. She may have a calm, collected, and elegant persona, but she is only human and she can only repress overwhelming fear for so long.

Her shaky legs give out as she _feels_ the invisible force bring her to the forefront of its attention.

She senses it drifting closer and closer to her, and her heart begins beating faster and faster, her body shakes like she has Parkinson's, her mouth dries up in terror.

She can't even move to get back up as the ineffable force approaches.

But wait…

 _I still have the Outsider's hand...maybe it wants it back?_

It may appear she thought this calmly, but she is desperate to find a way out of this.

As such, she rushes to act on what she thought to do.

She throws the bloodied hand toward the boy, and it lands a few meters off from his body.

However, nothing seems to happen. The force still approaches.

 _What now…?_

She can't think of anything else she can do, the sheer gravity of its presence has sapped her of her will to get back up and keep escaping. Hearing the sound of the rain continuing to fall, it seems her power has been totally negated, and her knives are useless as shown by the one that disappeared when she threw it.

She was out of ways to fight and escape.

And here, she does something something she hadn't done in a long while.

"Someone...anyone...please _**help me**_ _!"_

Nothing happens, but that invisible, ineffable force continues to close in on her, and she begins to resign herself to her fate...however it seems that her preparation was for naught.

"Maid-san...I told you to run…"

She manages to hear the Outsider's voice loud and clear despite their distance.

"It's hard for me to control _that thing_ when it comes out…"

For some reason, she hears a jovial tone in his voice as he speaks to her despite the obvious exhaustion he's in and the fact that she had plans to kill him minutes ago.

He coughs, and he seems to speak to no one in particular. "I appreciate you coming out to protect me, but that's enough of that. If you think hurting her or anyone else to protect me is okay, then _I'm going to have to crush that misguided illusion of yours._ "

An extreme power, one greater than the invisible power that was spreading chaos through the area seems to _open its mouth and devour_ that invisible power.

The area where that power was and the space around his severed wrist shakes violently, then it all disappears.

The world shakes, then the cracks in the world break totally.

Color returns to the world.

The sound of the falling rain is no longer warped.

The world returns to life, and it's nearly cathartic.

That power is gone.

And that boy...that boy was unconscious.

Unconscious, yet in one piece.

His right hand is back in its rightful place, despite it having been clearly severed and wrapped in a now-empty bloodied cloth.

Questions began running through her mind.

 _What was that? How was it able to interfere with my power like that? What was that power that came afterward?_

But the better question here lies not in the boy's powers, but the boy himself.

 _That Outsider...just who is he to have such powers? And why would he use it to save me, after what I did to him?_

These questions race through her head as she pushes herself up off the ground on shaky legs.

 _I have to tell the mistress about what happened here…_

Izayoi Sakuya then makes the trip back to the mansion to report to her mistress.

* * *

The Scarlet Devil saw it all.

After she threw Gungnir, everything happening outside became apparent.

And as everything unfolded Outside, her eyes began to water as tears began to flood her vision.

Flandre, Marisa, and Patchouli being tied up, rendered unconscious, or both.

Meiling lying unconscious in a pile of rubble.

Koakuma sporting a gaping wound in her side.

Sakuya, facing off against Kamijou and that ineffable force he possesses.

Everything in that vision she had, she was responsible for.

And all she can do is weep.

* * *

"Wa~, that was quite the ride, ze!"

"That, we can agree on."

Marisa and Patchouli, finally having awoken from their forced slumbers, speak of the incident with each other as they survey the damage.

"I've gotta say, though, I haven't seen the mansion looking this bad since I first fought with Flandre." She takes her charred hat off and scratches her head. "I'm impressed."

"I am not," Sakuya says as she leans against the wall of the mansion, effectively exhausted with whatever it was she had to experience with Kamijou, who's lying still unconscious inside the mansion beside a sleeping Flandre. "I am quite the opposite, actually. Surely you have not forgotten who it is that has to clean all of this up."

"Geh." Marisa pulls the lip of her hat down to cover her face as she turns away, a nervous smile on her face.

Shortly after Sakuya went back inside the mansion to report to her mistress, people began to awaken one by one until only Kamijou and Flandre were left. Flandre seemed tuckered out so no one bothered to wake her, and when Meiling moved Kamijou next to her she contentedly snuggled up beside him and laid her head on his right shoulder.

Overall, everyone is fine except for Koakuma, Sakuya, and Remilia herself. Koakuma for obvious reasons, but thankfully Patchouli went to work on healing her not too long ago, before she started walking around with Marisa.

Sakuya is still shaken by her experience with the Outsider and the otherworldly force in her frozen time field, which, mysteriously, Remilia was able to see the latter half of, from when the cracks started forming in space to when it all finally shattered. It appears that when those cracks started spreading to where they covered even her, she was able to move within the frozen time as if the effect were not even active. Though everything still looked like it was.

After Sakuya gave her report of what happened and what she experienced up close, Remilia let herself fall to a crouch by one of the corridor's intact walls and told Sakuya to let her be for a while, and here she is.

Meiling recovered from her injury rather quickly, though she still has a minor concussion. She was the first to wake up and after listened in to what Sakuya was saying to her mistress, she gently placed Koakuma and Kamijou inside the mansion, out of the still-pouring rain.

When Patchouli woke up not much longer after Kamijou and Koakuma were brought in, she canceled the rain spell around the mansion and sought about healing her servant before going off to trade snide remarks with the golden-haired witch.

Koakuma awoke shortly after Patchouli healed her, and upon surveying the scene and seeing the unconscious, blood-covered Kamijou she immediately started sulking. Her master left her to it.

Remilia looks up from her sulking and her eyes fall on the Outside human and his right hand, which is rested on the ground on the other side of the sleeping Flandre.

"Uuu…"

She feels like she failed everyone, letting them all be hurt like that, and she feels especially bad about siccing everyone on the human boy. Not so much for him than because she was forcing her idea on everyone else even if they wanted an alternative.

She was convinced that the power inside him was something she and the rest of the world never wanted to experience, and now...well, she still thinks the same, but now the way she wants this to happen has changed. She wanted to kill him to make sure it could never be released, but now she thinks it may be better if he's protected and kept alive, to prevent him from getting in any situation that would release _that thing_ again.

But before any of that, there's something she has to check.

Remilia inches closer to where her sister is lying down beside him, and hovers her above his.

After what she's heard and seen of him today...the way he's treated her little sister despite how dangerous she is, the way he rushed to her best friend's servant to check on her despite him being able to take that chance to escape...even the way he so earnestly apologized to her in the library has convinced her that he's in no way a bad guy. But even so, she has to check.

She lowers her hand to meet his, hoping her power cooperates and shows her another vision like before when his hand came in contact with her back in the library. She has to see if that thing will be released again, and if it will, she has to find a way to prevent this one...preferably successful and not in the tragic fashion that happened today.

The Scarlet Devil closes her eyes as her small hand meets his large, masculine one, and she sees…

Nothing.

She sighs.

 _Why am I not surprised it wouldn't work this time?_

She stands up and looks out at her destroyed mansion. Surely this will be a lot of work for Sakuya to clean up, and she doesn't even complain. She carries out her duty without question, without fail. Truly a role model for servants everywhere.

 _Maybe I should try and help her clean this all up. As thanks._

Elsewhere, Koakuma is sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest.

 _I can't believe I let myself attack Kamijou-san like that...just why did I have to be born a succubus? Why couldn't I just be some other, less problematic lesser demon?_

She sighs, feeling extremely dejected. She's caused an awful lot of trouble for Kamijou today, and she's sure the rest of the mansion is going to think of her a lot differently now that her true colors have resurfaced after so long, and so strongly.

Well, at least she had enough of her rational self left to not try to suck the more crude and efficient life source from his body.

 _Although it would have been delicious…_

She bangs her head against her knees repeatedly.

 _NO! I am_ not _letting myself go there!_

"You know, while I can heal most wounds by myself, healing brain damage is not exactly easy to do."

Koakuma practically jumps at the sudden voice of her master. "P-P-Patchouli-sama?!"

Patchouli moves to sit down beside where Koakuma was just a moment ago. Her former walking partner Kirisame Marisa is now talking to Emily Euphoria, who brought her broom to her.

"You also shouldn't be moving so much and so suddenly after going through a shock like that."

"Y-yes ma'am…"

She stands there awkwardly, waiting for her mistress to say something. After a few moments of this, Patchouli looks up at her, mildly annoyed.

"I suppose you're waiting for an invitation?"

Ah.

"S-sorry, Patchouli-sama!" Koakuma moves quickly to her mistress's side and sits down reservedly.

"You know, it's been so long since I've seen your succubus side that I almost forgot you were one."

The little devil flinches, but remains quiet. She supposes she should have expected to be scolded for her behavior today.

Seeing how her servant chooses not to respond, Patchouli continues. "It surprised me when I first felt that devilish aura on you, and seeing how you've been holding back for God knows how long, I find myself wanting to reward you."

"Eh?!"

The Unmoving Great Library looks sidelong at ther servant. "To have such dedication to your job that you'd suppress even your very nature...that's an admirable quality in a familiar, and a rare one in a demon."

She can't help but feel a twinge of happiness pop its head over her mountain of guilt. "Thank you for the compliment, Patchouli-sama."

The magician waves it off. "Remind me, Koakuma: when was the last time you had a vacation?"

Her eyes widen to comical levels as she hears these words. "W-wait, Patchouli-sama! You don't mean…?"

The purplette nods. "I do." She holds up 3 fingers to the succubus. "I'll give you three days off from work. Use this time as you wish, but make sure you are back and ready to work as soon as it's over, understood?"

A wide smile makes her way onto Koakuma's face. "Yes, Patchouli-sama!"

"On your break I'll see if I can't arrange a way for you to...indulge in your nature every once in awhile. Holding back for that long can't be good for your health."

Koakuma opens her mouth to complain, to say that she doesn't want any part of that, but then she realizes she has a point.

"...Thank you, Patchouli-sama."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

"Residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, I must say I am _very_ surprised with this afternoon's turn of events."

"I'd say I am, too. Just what the hell happened here?"

Yakumo Yukari and Hakurei Reimu walk onto the grounds of the SDM through one of Yukari's gaps.

"Y-Yukari? Why are you here?" Remilia leaves Kamijou and her sister's side as she approaches the sage youkai.

"And why're ya awake this early?" Marisa asks this as well as she does the same, with her broom resting on her shoulder and a trio of fairies following her for some reason.

The gap youkai opens her fan and uses it to cover her face. "It was much too hot today to sleep comfortably. And besides, shouldn't you be asking that to this vampire over here?"

"Fair enough." Marisa shrugs.

"As for why she's here…" Reimu begins, looking far from amused at being dragged from her home. "She was spying on you all from my place. Said she was 'making sure her little Kamijou-chan didn't go and get himself killed'. At first I thought she was just exaggerating, but…" She looks around. "Maybe she wasn't so far off the mark."

"Aww, Reimu, that hurts. You doubted my word?" Yukari says this in a sing-songy voice.

She gives her a droll stare. "I'm sorry, am I _not_ supposed to be wary of the number one cause of strange happenings here in Gensoukyou?"

Yukari tilts her head to the side and presses her now-closed fan against her chin. "But I thought that spot fell to the Moriya Shrine nowadays?"

"Okay, okay, let's stop that right there, ze." Marisa butts in as the remaining people involved with the day's happenings converge on the spot. "So if you're here now, that means you've got somethin' to do with us now?"

"Perhaps you plan on taking Kamijou back to the shrine now?" Patchouli asks as she walks up with Koakuma.

"I do plan on taking him, but not to the shrine." She surveys the small crowd. "Where have you moved him to, if I may ask?"

Sakuya points to the area behind Yukari and Reimu. "He's unconscious over there. Flandre-sama is ever-so-valiantly guarding his sleeping form."

The duo turns around simultaneously, and Yukari smiles mischievously while Reimu's face twists in horror.

"Aw, what an absolutely touching scene. It almost pains me to have to end it. Almost." She turns to Reimu. "Reimu, would you be a dear and go retrieve him for me?"

She shakes her head rapidly. "I enjoy being alive, thank you very much."

Yukari sighs. "Oh, you're no fun." She snaps her fingers and a gap appears under the boy, somehow sucking him in only while leaving Flandre's head to fall much lightly than should be possible on the ground.

"Ya know, I don't get why ya lied and said ya couldn't use your powers to transport him places," Marisa says as she scratches her head yet again. Maybe she got ashes in it?

Yukari wags a finger at her. "You'll find out soon enough." She pauses and looks up, as if pondering something. "Or rather, the boy will."

"Ohh boy...I can already tell this is gonna be something crazy."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yukari spins on her heel and turns to Reimu. "Now, shall we depart?"

She grumbles incoherently, then turns to Remilia. "Yeah. But before I go, can I ask who caused all of this?"

Without a second's hesitation, all hands point to Marisa. Well, except her own hand, which is pointing to Patchouli.

"Ah...it all makes sense now." Reimu has a menacing expression on her face, and Marisa gulps audibly as he holds up her hands.

"Oi oi oi, Reimu, come on! I'm innocent I tell you, innocent!"

She stomps over to the blonde magician and grabs her by the ear. "Sure you are. And you can tell me just _how_ you're innocent when we get back to the shrine."

"Owowowow, let go of my ear, ze! Reimu, get off!"

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise ignores her and turns back to Yukari. "Alright, let's go. This one has a _lot_ of explaining to do."

"I bet she does." Yukari giggles as the Scarlet Devil Mansion residents sigh in relief of not being on the receiving end of Reimu's wrath. "Toodles, everyone~!"

And with that, Yukari opens up two gaps: one for herself and one for the incident resolving duo, and they step through the tear in reality and go back to the Hakurei Shrine.

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes the Scarlet Devil Incident. I had a lot of fun writing this arc, though I did have a bit of trouble towards the end.**

 **I'd like to take a bit of time to reflect on some things, specifically the canon and fanon interpretations of certain characters and how I ended up writing them.**

 **Meiling: In fanon, she's a largely incompetent but very friendly gate guard who sleeps all the time. In canon, she's still very friendly and laid-back but only occasionally takes siestas, and even then she can wake up in time to catch anyone sneaking in, regardless of who they are. In fact, the only person she really can't keep out is Marisa.**

 **Meiling was a relatively easy character for me to portray, actually, and I like to think her portrayal here is pretty close to canon. Correct me if I'm wrong though.**

 **Sakuya: In fanon, pads. Pad chief. Breast envy. May or may not be obsessed with Remilia in a very creepy way. Also stabs Meiling a lot for shirking her duties. In canon, she probably doesn't wear pads and doesn't stab anyone who utters anything relating to breasts around her, and she is only incredibly loyal to her mistress, not obsessed. Also, since Meiling rarely shirks her duties, Sakuya rarely has to punish her. Also, she's very cold towards humans in general, Marisa seeming to be an exception.**

 **I was scared to write Sakuya. I'll be honest. I was afraid that I'd mess up her characterization and she'd find a way to come stab me because of it. But, I didn't hear anything negative regarding that, so...that's good.**

 **Patchouli: In fanon, Mukyu~. Also a shut-in and has a notoriously variable figure due to her baggy clothing. All of these remain true in a sense in canon.**

 **I wrote her pretty decently, for all the worry I had. Though I feel like she should have been a bit...colder, I guess. I don't know why. Also, my decision to have her well-endowed back in the Welcome to Gensoukyou chapters is something I don't regret. It makes for pleasant thoughts.**

 **Koakuma: Koakuma's special in that pretty much everything about her was cooked up by the fans, since she doesn't even get dialogue in EoSD. Shoot, I don't think she even gets dialogue in the couple manga appearances she has. The fans came up with her more good-natured and obedient side and ZUN said she was more mischievous and impish, so I just mixed them. Though we didn't see much of her other side since her succubus side was repressed most of the time. Her succubus nature is fanon too though. As well as her name.**

 **Flandre: Hoo boy. In fanon, she's a psychotic little girl that loves to destroy stuff. A sadistic mass-murderer. However, she's also depicted as a simple innocent child who doesn't understand restraint too well, nor seems to care too much about breaking her _'_ toys'. This much is canon as well. She's really just socially awkward since she doesn't have much interaction with many people at all, and she's too sheltered and innocent to understand how to attack people properly (as in, without destroying them utterly) or that killing is bad.**

 **I love Flandre. Really. She's an amazing character, and I saw so much potential as I wrote her and I think I may have gone a little overboard. Hopefully I don't go overboard with Koishi and Kokoro, whenever they get their turns.**

 **Remilia: Instead of fanon and canon comparisons for the Scarlet Devil, I think I'll just talk about how I see her.**

 **Remilia is a great vampire, almost the epitome of those who forsake maturity for power. I can imagine the Outside World magicians would flip their shit if they came across her, since vampires are such a discussed and feared species for them. I hope, if she ever somehow gets back outside the barrier, she doesn't run across Aisa. I might cry for both of them.**

 **Anyway, while Remilia is an esteemed vampire, she is also a young girl who cares very much for the people she lives with, and I think I managed to capture that well enough with her reasoning for killing Touma. I hope you all agree with me on that.**

 **As for the arc itself...well, if you think about, nothing much happened here. Someone in an earlier review said they couldn't really see where the story was going from here, and yeah, it's not going to be apparent from here. We're early on, in all of the warm-up and set-up incidents, and this arc falls into both of those. This is but warm-up for what's to come, and a set-up for something later. Hopefully this story makes it that far.**

 **As for Kamijou himself...well, you can really see just how weak he is in this arc. Let's face it, he's outclassed massively here in Gensoukyou (though it's not that different from the Outside in that regard), which means most of his defining moments are probably going to be seen in his words and the small actions, rather than big fights. Surely you noticed how he was dragged along by everyone in this arc. I would say to not expect any of that to change, but who knows? Things might turn out differently next arc.**

 **Well, that's that I suppose. Drop a review if you don't mind, go check out the stage two boss poll if you want, and I'll see you all next time.**


	14. Between the Lines 2

**A/N: Woot. Here's the next Between the Lines chapter. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.**

 **And here, we have reviews. Thanks for these yet again.**

 **erickkarver: Thanks for the compliment, hehe. I'm glad you liked my interpretation of the SDM residents, and like I said last chapter in another reader's review, I'll deal with the grammar errors...at some point. As for things like that one favorite character of yours and how Eirin stacks up versus Heaven Canceller, well, who knows? Maybe you'll find out next arc.**

 **Masterx01: I can somewhat understand why you would think of that situation as forced, however I opted to make Sakuya at least a tiny bit merciful. I put that reasonable and merciful part of her in there and that's how the scene ended up playing out with the way I wrote it. I did have the thought originally of having Touma try to 'catch' Gungnir as it blew past him and redirect it from hitting Koakuma, but when it came to that point I had troublesome mental block that wouldn't let me develop the situation in that direction.**

 **Deep Sea Diver Man: I didn't think the situation warranted the Dragons coming out, so I kept it at the Invisible Thing. I'm sure if they were released freely upon Gensoukyou the damage would be immeasurable. As for the next place Touma is thrown into...well, you'll find that out when next arc starts.**

 **Formboy1: I'm glad you liked the arc. Going onto the games...well, good luck and fight hard! You may not be very good now, but with practice anyone can be great. Glad to see you're having fun with them though.**

 **Guest: I'll look over it and see if I can't add a little more to the kissing scene though. I don't know. As for the questions I forgot to address last chapter...**

 **1) Oh, so Remilia had started to piggyback on Patchouli saying that they didn't have time for Marisa and Flandre to attack them, but then Remilia got cut off by Flandre starting up Taboo "Forbidden Games". That's what Sakuya was referring to when she said that Remilia was trying to say that they didn't have time.  
** **2) Touma pinched Meiling's butt.**

 **Server lock: My understanding of what you're saying may be skewed, but the Dragons are a whole separate entity to the Invisible Thing. It's not so much the Dragon's presence than it is...well, just an unknown, invisible, and immensely powerful force.**

 **As for Sakuya's characterization during the whole scene, specifically her fear, I will admit that she was out of character there, but that was my intention. At the end of the day, Sakuya is just a human with a special power, and she can feel fear just like the rest of us. I wanted to show that in that scene. Faced with a force of that magnitude, it would be more surprising if Sakuya wasn't totally terrified. Also, what Sakuya was before she became Remilia's maid is still speculation, and I tend to stay away from past Sakuya because I'm afraid I won't write something worthy of her general awesomeness.**

 **When I wrote that chapter, though, I knew it would betray some expectations. Sorry I couldn't write a fight scene like you and some others may have expected for ending an arc, but when faced with with the IT or the Dragons there aren't many beings that can stand against it or even put up a fight, both in the Touhou Project and in A Certain Magical Index. I'd be hard-pressed to find a way Sakuya could resist.**

 **Excuse me if my reply sounded too serious or came off negatively in some way.**

 **And with all oft that out of the way, may you all enjoy this short chapter.**

* * *

 **Between the Lines 2**

* * *

The Imaginary Number District—Five Elements Institution.

The City of Shimmers.

Both of these are names for the mysterious realm that exists in the same location as Academy City.

It was formed by the AIM diffusion fields—unconscious releases of weak energy emitted from an esper's body, of all 2.3 million espers living in that city of science.

And in this strange realm lies a strange being, formed of these same fields and given consciousness through a fear of death by Kamijou Touma's Imagine Breaker.

Kazakiri Hyouka stood in the middle of a road, thinking about the recent disappearance of the boy holding that threatening power.

 _4 days, huh…_

Ninety-six hours have passed since the boy seemed to vanish from the face of the earth, and ninety-six hours of investigation by the city's authorities have turned up fruitless.

It's quite troublesome.

She sighs as she thinks of Kamijou's companion and her first friend, Index. The boy is someone very important to her, and Kazakiri wonders if the grimoire library is doing fine without him.

She wants to go see her in her time of need, and be there for her while she waits for him to return. If there's one thing she knows about him other than the fact that even being around him is toxic to her, it's that he always comes back, no matter what, so the least she can do is be there with her friend as she waits.

Her surroundings shift to fill with people, and her eyes widen in surprise at the sudden scenery shift.

It seems she's manifested in Academy City yet again.

Upon realizing this, she moves to find the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

* * *

It all started with one sentence.

"I bet I can drink more than you!"

From there, it dissolved into chaos.

"Hah! You wish! You'll never be able to drink more than the strongest!"

"Bring it on! I can take way more than you, be it humans or alcohol!"

The voices of Mystia Lorelei, Cirno, and Rumia all echo through the forest as they argue over who can drink the most. Meanwhile, the more level-headed (though not by much) Wriggle Nightbug and Daiyousei trudge on behind them, dreading what's to come.

None of them look like they're any older than twelve, yet they're talking about drinking. Why is that?

Well, that's because none of them are human. Cirno and Daiyousei are both fairies and have been around for at least sixty years, Wriggle and Mystia are both young youkai just out of their newborn phases (think anywhere between fifty and a hundred years), and Rumia is a youkai that acts like one just out of their newborn phases…though she couldn't really tell you her age even if she wanted to.

"Fine then! Let's have ourselves a drinking competition!"

"Yeah!"

Mystia proposes this and Cirno and Rumia yell their agreement simultaneously, taking off into flight toward the village.

"Wawawa, Cirno-chan, wait up!" Daiyousei flies off after the three of them, if only to avoid being separated from her fellow younger ice fairy.

Wriggle, on the other hand, sighs and looks up at the noontime sun and fiddles with her cape. She knew the sudden return of the more seasonal winter cold would be telling of something bad to come.

As the boyish insect youkai flies after her group—Team Nineball, as they're called, she complains out loud to no one in particular. "Honestly, talking about having a drinking competition in broad daylight…we're all going to get day-drunk, I can feel it."

* * *

The Human Village is not as hostile to youkai as one would originally think. In fact, as long as they're not causing any trouble, they're generally left alone.

There are shops that only cater to youkai, some only humans, and some that don't discriminate and serve both.

Of the two types that their group can attend, they chose a youkai-only one this time.

And now…

The three rowdy non-humans are being their own levels of drunk, with Rumia being groggy and speaking with slurred speech with her head down on the bar, Mystia singing songs and totally botching the lyrics (though it still sounds very pretty regardless of that), and Cirno…is just less articulate than before.

At some point they had forgotten about the competition and just drank for the sake of it, but Wriggle decided to count for them to pass the time. Rumia went down first with five dishes of _sake_ , Mystia came next at eight, and Cirno is still going on her ninth. Keep in mind these are not your small traditional-sized ones, rather they're comparable in size to the oni Hoshiguma Yuugi's _sake_ dish. That thing is almost as big around as her head.

Wriggle sighs and takes a sip from her own dish. Around the time Rumia reached the point of no return, Wriggle and Daiyousei decided to take a few drinks of their own, but not so much that they can't guide their friends back home when they decide to leave.

"Hey, Dai-chan."

The green-haired fairy hiccups and looks dazedly at Wriggle. "Y-yes?"

"Don't you think we should go home now?" The firefly looks to the wasted trio of their fivesome. "If we stay any longer I feel like Cirno's gonna find a way to burn the place down. And she's an _ice_ fairy."

Daiyousei doesn't answer, only looks quizzically at her with a hazy expression.

"Hey, now, Dai-chan…"

"Ehehe, I'm sorry, did you say somethin'?"

Wriggle slams her head down on the counter. It hurts a lot more than usual since her antennae got smashed, too, and it startled the bartender.

 _Dammit, Dai, why are you such a lightweight? You only had one dish! One!_

Picking her head up off the counter, she looks over to the group's leader and opens her mouth to speak.

"Cirn—"

"Hey, hey, everyone, I know somewhere where we can get never-ending _sake_!"

She resists the urge to yank at her own antennae as she hears this. "I really, _really_ don't think any of you need any more alcohol in your system."

She's ignored, not unexpectedly.

"Oh~!" Mystia expresses her pleasant surprise in her singing voice as she stumbles over to Cirno.

"Uuu…where, where?" Rumia groans and slinks out of her seat to approach the ice fairy.

"Tell us, Cirno-chan!" Even Daiyousei gets up from her seat and floats to her friend.

Not wanting to be left out, Wriggle downs the rest of her dish and approaches as well.

"Well, well, I heard that _a certain oni_ came down from heaven and is staying at the Hakurei Shrine today!"

Rumia, Mystia, and Daiyousei nod attentively, waiting for their leader to go on.

Wriggle, on the other hand, pales at what she just said.

' _A certain oni', she says…there's only one oni that I know stays up in heaven._

"And—hic, and Reimu's out with Marisa today picking 'shrooms in the Forest of Magic, and you know _that oni_ always sleeps through most of the day, so I say we go nab her gourd and sample the sake in there!"

"No. No, no, no." Wriggle voices her disapproval. "We are _not_ going to go steal from that oni."

Cirno looks sadly at her. "Aww~, but why not? I've thought up a good plan and everything!"

"Because she's _way_ stronger than all of us combined, you idiot! There's no way we can pull that off!"

"Yes we can!" Cirno puts her hands on her hips and floats up so she's on eye level with Wriggle. "I have it all planned out! Rumia can make the room darker so it seems like night time, Mystia can sing some lullabies to help keep her asleep, you can use some of your bugs to sting her with some paral…paryl…some poison that makes it so she can't move, and then Dai and me, the strongest, will swoop in to take her gourd from her and then we can all escape!"

"Ohh~!"

The three onlooking members of the team say this in unison, and even Wriggle has to admit that that's a pretty good plan, especially coming from Cirno.

 _I've always wondered what the sake inside that infinite gourd tastes like…_

She shakes her head despite this thought.

"As good of a plan as that is, Cirno, it's too risky! I happen to _like_ living, thank you very much!"

Cirno moves closer to Wriggle so that they're almost face-to-face, causing the firefly youkai to move backwards until she hits the bar. Cirno stops just before their noses meet.

They lock eyes and stare at each other for almost a full minute, and finally Cirno opens her mouth to speak with alcohol-scented breath.

"You haven't had enough _sake_!"

"Eh?!"

She backs up from Wriggle, giving her much needed space as she turns her back on her to face the other three members of Team Nineball. "If you would've drank more, we wouldn't be disagreeing! Everyone, hold her down! And Bartender-san, give me the strongest stuff you got!"

 _Oh, this is bad!_

Wriggle dashes toward the door, but before she can escape she feels a pull on her legs, tripping her sending her face-first to the ground.

"Ghk—!"

She kicks her legs to try and dislodge the person restraining her, but they hold on stubbornly and actually begin to drag her back to the center of the room.

"HEY! LET ME GO!"

She continues to thrash about and manages to free one leg from their grasp, but not even a second later another body seizes her other leg.

"Dammit!" Wriggle uses her arms to pull herself back toward the door to escape the tragedy to come, but then she feels a sudden weight on her back and two small hands grab her wrists with an _ungodly_ strength, yanking them back and bending her backwards.

"Owowowow, get off me!" She doesn't even have to look to know this is Rumia, what with this insane strength.

But then the blue-haired, icicle-winged fairy comes into her vision, with a mischievous smile and a sake dish in her hand.

"Open wide, Wriggle!"

"Noo—ulp!"

The ice fairy grabs her nose and forces open her mouth, then pours the sweet liquid into her mouth and down her throat.

And wow, when Cirno asked for the strongest the bartender had, he did not disappoint.

* * *

 **A/N: And that wraps that up. I bet you didn't expect to see Team Nineball, especially in a Between the Lines which essentially set the stage for the next arc. I wonder how many of you know who that oni is, and if you do I wonder if you can figure out how things are going to start off in the next chapter, the beginning of the second arc.**

 **But before I go—did you guys know that Kasen has Sage privileges? Now I understand why she was able to break open the Hakurei Barrier in Urban Legend in Limbo to go attack Sumireko. I guess that means Kasen is on the same level as Yukari, as those privileges mean she was one of the people that helped create the barrier.**

 **But let me stop talking and start working on the next chapter. Leave a review, if you don't mind, and I'll see you all next chapter.**


End file.
